BOY3 UF^ o^ 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



COPYRIGHT .OFFICE. 



No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
tion has been found. 



(Date) 



Forwarded to Order Division 

(6, i, 1906—2,000.) 



^^ 




ik)k_/r-^i^ 




GENERAL GRANT 



BOY'S LIFE 

OF 



GENERAL GRANT 



By THOMAS W. KNOX 

AUTHOR OF ''THE BOY TRA VELLERS^' « CAPTAIN JOHN CRANE, 

"A CLOSE SHA VE,^ ''THE TALKING HANDKERCHIEF,* 

^DECISIVE BATTLES SINCE WATERLOO,^ 

^THE LOST ARMY,'' ETC. 



1Hltt0trate^ 




THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO. 

NEW YORK AKRON, OHIO CHICAGO 



FIBRARVr.tr,OIWG«^fSS 

I S£i^ 21 ♦908 

|CLASS Ma Mo. 

_ Copt a. 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY 

THE MERRIAM COMPANY 



Copyright, 1899, 

BY 

THE WERNER COMPANY 
Boy'B Life of General Grant 



Received from 
Copyright OPflco. 
?3 S '08 



Made by 

Robert Smith' Printing Co., 

Lansing, Mich. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Ancestry. -Mathew Grant. -His voyage from England in the Mary 
and John. — Settlement at Mattapan near Boston. - Moves to Wind- 
sor, Conn. —Troublous times in the Colonies. — How people went to 
church. — Living in a blockhouse. —Noah Grant. - His son Noah 
Grant.- Jesse R.Grant, father of Ulysses. -Birth of our hero.- 
What he says of his parents 

CHAPTER II. 

Weight of the baby. - Giving him a name. —Hiram Ulysses Grant. - 
Boyhood of Ulysses. - His first smell of powder. - Fondness for horses. 
— His skill as a rider. — Hauling wood and carrying passengers.— 
Skating. — How his frozen feet were cured. — Hauling logs for the new 
jail. — What "Dave and Me" did. — Breaking a neighbor's window 
by accident 

CHAPTER III. 

The young horsebreaker. - Riding circus ponies. - Young Grant's famous 
horse-trade. — Selling a refractory horse. — Trips to Cincinnati. — Sent 
to West Point. — How the appointment came about. — Mistake in his 
name - Grant's sensitiveness on the subject. —Preparing for exami- 
nation. - His outfit. - Joiirney to West Point.- Canal, stage, railway, 
and steamboat. -West Point and its history. - Grant's proficiency. 
— Excels in horsemanship ^^"^^ 

CHAPTER IV. 

Grant thrashes an impertinent student. -A salutary lesson. - "Uncle 
Sam " — Popular with his fellows. — An arbiter of disputes. — First 
visit home. - A happy reunion. - Graduates from the Military Acad- 
emy.— His standing in his class.— Home again. — Appointed into 
the Fourth Infantry. —His first uniform. — Joins his regiment at St. 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Louis. — Meets his future wife. — Courtship under difficulties, — 
Troubles between Texas and Mexico. — Fourth Infantry ordered to 
the frontier 52-65 

CHAPTER V. 

On to Texas. — General Taylor. — Desires of the Government. — State of 
affairs at that time. — Landing of the Fourth Infantry at Corpus 
Christi. — On the Nueces. — Grant's personal mishap. — Kinney, the 
mule-trader. — Smuggling as a profession. — Hunting near Corpus 
Christi. — Capturing wild horses. —Grant's horse transactions. — His 
promotion. — Brevet rank. — Marching to the Rio Grande. — Encoun- 
tering great herds of wild horses. — Sights on the plains . 66-78 

CHAPTER VI. 

Arrival opposite Matamoras. — Fort Brown and Brownsville. — Attack 
by Mexicans. — Point Isabel. — Sending for provisions. — Fort Brown 
shelled. — Taylor's return from Point Isabel. — Attacked by the 
Mexican army. — Battle of Palo Alto. — An artillery duel. — Battle 
of Resaca de la Palma. — Victory for the Americans. — Grant's part 
in the battles. — Return to Fort Brown. — Occupation of Matamoras 
and Camargo. — Movement on Monterey 79-93 

CHAPTER VII. 

The battle of Monterey. — Strength and organization of the army. — 
Defenses of the city. — Bishop's palace. — Black Fort. — Movements 
of "Worth's Division. — Capture of the Saltillo Road. — Advance 
into the city. — Grant goes for ammunition. — A perilous ride. — General 
Ampudia surrenders. — Hoffman's verses on " Monterey." — Men who 
became famous. — Characteristics of General Taylor. — His hatred of 
uniform. — An amusing incident. — An armistice. — Scott's plans for 
the war. — Grant goes to Vera Cruz. — Battle of Buena Vista, 94-106 

CHAPTER VIII. 

March from Vera Cruz. — Meeting the enemy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. 

— Scott's plan of battle. — "Always obey your superior officer." — 
Advance to, Perote and Puebla. — A long wait for reinforcements. — 
Advance into the valley of Mexico. — Battles of Contreras and Chur- 
ubusco. — Attack upon the city. — Grant's exploit at Molino del Rey. 

— In a church belfry with a howitzer. — Grant's memory. — Capture 
of the city. — Declaration of peace 107-118 



CONTENTS. ^ 

CHAPTER IX. 

Promoted again. - Favorably mentioned in several reports. -General 
s'otts rattlesnake story. -Grant returns to the United States - 
Robbed on the way. -Marries Miss Dent. - On duty at Sacke ts 
Harbor and Detroit. -The first baby. -" The Cicotte mare. - 
Quarrel with Zachary Chandler. - Dog-fight on Grosse Isle^- A Son 
of Temperance and an Odd Fellow. - Second son born. - Mrs Grant 

returns to St. Louis 

CHAPTER X. 
Off for California. - On the Isthmus. - Difficulties and hardships of the 
iourney.- Failure of the contractor to keep his agreement. - Over- 
land in the mud. - How Grant acquitted himself. - Arrival at Panama 
- Embarking on the Golden Gate. - Outbreak of cholera. - Arrival 
at San Francisco. -Expense of living in California. - Grant m Ore- 
eon -His experience at farming. - Another promotion. - At Hum- 
boldt Bay. - Resigned and goes home. - Settles down to ^^^^^^S-- 
In the real-estate business. - Moves to Galena, 111. . . ^^^^^ 

CHAPTER XI. 

Galena and its history. - Lincoln's election. - Threatened t^o^^^^^ ^j^^ 
the South. - Excitement in North and South after Lincoln's election. 
_ The inauguration. - Conduct of Buchanan's administration. - Call 
for troops. - Response of Galena. - Speeches of E. B. ^ashburn^e and 

John A. Rawlins 

CHAPTER XII. 

Galena raises a company. - Grant drills and ^^^^^^^^Vl't'w^^hin.ton" 
sides at a meeting. -Writes to the adjutant-general at Washington, 
"toe to Springfield. -Enters the State service -Military adviser 
to the governor. - Colonel of Twenty-first Illinois Infantry. - Ordered 
to Nor?h Missouri. - Light marching order. - Guarding -Iway^and 

bridges 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Grant becomes a brigadier-general. -Ordered '^^^l^^'^^^^-J^^ 
command at Jefferson City. -State of ^«J!^%^h^ere^- The border 
States. - Grant goes to Cape Girardeau. - His staff-officers. - Pursu- 
ing Jeff Thompson. - Transferred to Cairo. - Captures Paducah^K> . 
-Battle of Belmont. -Driving the rebels and driven by them^-- 
Grant's narrow escape. - Intelligence of a^horse. - Losses at^^^e^ 
mout 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Fremont superseded by Halleck. — Characteristics of the two men. — 
Fremont's march to the South-west. — His imaginary foe. — Retreat 
to Rolla. — Grant at Cairo. — His annoyances. — Fugitive slaves, and 
how they were dealt with. — Union sentiment in the border States. — 
Winter of 1861-62. — Buell at Bowling Green and Mill Springs. — 
Movements against Forts Henry and Donelson. — Capture of Fort 
Henry, and investment of Donelson. — A woman's tongue, and what 
came of it 201-217 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Rebels make a sortie from Donelson. — Repulsed at a decisive mo- 
ment.^ — Grant's discovery. — Three days' rations in haversacks, m 
Grant's movements on the battlefield. — Terrible weather for cam- 
paigning. — John B. Floyd and his escape. — General Pillow.— 
Buckner's flag of truce and his proposal. — Grant's reply. — The 
surrender. — Excitement in the North, and gloom at the South.— 
Losses at Donelson 218-232 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Movements after Donelson. — Evacuation of Columbus. —Capture of 
Clarksville and Nashville. — Up the Tennessee River. — Pittsburg 
Landing, or Shiloh. — Great battle there. — First day's fighting. — 
Grant's army in peril. — Reinforced by Buell. — Fighting on the 
second day. — Rebels driven back. — Fugitives from the battlefield. 

— Grant injured by a fall. — Death of Albert Sidney Johnston.— 
Losses at Shiloh 233-248 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Grant's narrow escape in the battle. — Confederate strength at Corinth. 

— General Halleck assumes command. — Siege of Corinth. — A slow 
approach. — Fifteen miles in six weeks. — Grant asks to be relieved. 

— His request denied. — Rebels evacuate Corinth. — Pope and Buell 
pursue them. — Grant in command of the department. — His escape 
from guerrillas. — Rebels attack Corinth .... 239-264 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Vain attempt against Vicksburg. — Grant's long line of communications. 

— Dickey's raid. — Rebels capture Holly Springs. — Colonel Bowers 
and the muster-roll. — Grant falls back. — INIovemeut from Memphis 
towards Vicksburg. — Canal-digging. — A misfortune. — Various ex- 
peditions. — Playing a joke on the Rebels. -Running the batteries. — 
Landing at Grand Gulf. — The first battle .... 265-280 



CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Intercepted dispatches. - The march continued. - Battle of Raymond 

— Capture of Jackson. -Destruction of rebel factories and store- 
houses. -General Joseph E. Johnston. - Pemberton comes out to 
meet Grant.- Battle of Champion Hills, and defeat of rebels. - Pem- 
berton retires to Vicksburg. - Investment of the place. — The siege 

— Exploding a mine. —Famine in Vicksburg . . . 281-296 

CHAPTER XX. 

Result of the mine. - The Lord and Joe Johnston. -A flag of truce - 
Terms of surrender. - Vicksburg in Union hands. -Rudeness of Gen- 
eral Pemberton. -Grant's "Yankee trick. "- Surrender of Port 
Hudson. — Grant ordered to Cairo. — Commanding the grand military 
division of the Mississippi. - Grant at Chattanooga. -A state of siege. 

— Capture of Lookout Valley. - Charge of tlie mule brigade, 297-317 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Bragg's mistake. -Grant meets a party of rebel soldiers. - Bragg's 
notice to noncombatants. -Attack upon Mission Ridge. - Capture of 
Lookout Mountain. -The Battle above the clouds. -Great battle of 
Chattanooga. - How the Ridge was taken . - Bragg's retreat. - Effect 
of the victory iu the North. - Grant named for the presidency. - His 
ambition. - - The sidewalk. " - Made a lieutenant-general. - 
Ordered to Washington 318-335 

CHAPTER XXII. 

On duty at Washington. -His staff. - General plan of campaign. - 
State of affairs at the time.- Army of the Potomac. -Its condition 
and morals. -Lee's position.- Preparing for the offensive. - Begin- 
ning the movement. -Crossing the Rapidan. - Encountering Lee's 
army. -Hard fighting in The Wilderness. - Six days of battles. -A 
wily foe.- <' Shall fight it out on this line if it takes all sum- 

"^^^ - • • • 336-352 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

End of The Wilderness battles. - A few days of rest. - Meade's congratu- 
latory order. - Hancock attacks, and is repulsed. - Another advance. 
-Sheridan's raid and its results. - Grant's army on the Paraunkey. 
-Attack on Petersburg. - Headquarters at City Point. -Reinforce- 
ments. - Grant and the negro sentinel. -Mr. Lincoln's experience - 
Sheridan again. - Battles in the Shenandoah Valley. - Grant's cool- 
ness at an explosion 353-369 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Forming negro regiments. — Anger of the Confederates. — How they 
treated some negro soldiers. — General Butler's retaliation. — General 
Lee's letter and Grant's answer. — Hood's campaign and the result. — 
Grant visits New York. — Sheridan's raid. — Last movement on Rich- 
mond. — Battles of Dinwiddle, Five Forks, and Appomattox. — Evac- 
uation of Richmond. — Lee's army in a trap . . . 370-387 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Lee's surrender. — How it was brought about, — Terms of the agreement. 

— Johnston's surrender. — President Lincoln's visit to Richmond. — 
Reception by the negroes. — How New York received the great news. 

— Lincoln's return to "Washington. — Grant's return. — Assassination 
of the President. — How Grant escaped. — The President's dream. — 
Anger of the North. — The French in Mexico. — How they were driven 
out 388-402 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Grant makes a tour through the Northern States. —Revisits Galena.— 
Citizens give him a house — The new sidewalk. — Goes to Missouri 
and Ohio. — Visits the South. — Secretary of War ad interim. — Im- 
peachment of Andrew Johnson. — Nominated for the presidency. — 
Elected. — His administration. — Re-elected. — Retirement. — Journey 
around the world. — In Cuba and Mexico. — Bankruptcy. — Writing 
his memoirs. — Disease. — Death 403-420 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



General Grant Frontispiece 

Lieutenant Grant riding for Ammuni- 
tion AT Monterey Facing Page 55 

Battle of Buena Vista " " 97 - 

"Halt! Who comes There ? " " " 125*' 

Battle of Shiloh " *' 167 '^ 

Siege of Yicksburg " " 201 

General Grant at His Headquarters . " " 249 

Battle of Fredericksburg " " 287 

Surrender of Lee " " 327 



BOYS' LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 



CHAPTER. I. 

Ancestry.— Matliew Grant. -His voyage from England in the Mary 
and John. — Settlement at Mattapan near Boston. - Moves to Wind- 
sor, Conn. —Troublous times hi the Colonies. — How people went to 
church. — Living in a blockhouse. — Noah Grant. - His son Noah 
Grant.- Jesse R.Grant, father of Ulysses. — Birth of our hero.— 
What he says of his parents. 

Ulysses S. Grant was an American of the eighth 
generation from Mathew Grant and his wife, Pris- 
cilla, who came from Dorchester, England, in May, 
1630, and settled in Massachusetts. Nearly all of 
the one hundred and forty passengers on the ship 
Mary and John, which brought Mathew Grant to 
America, were from Devon, Somerset, and Dorchester; 
and they came with the intention of remaining per- 
manently in America. 

The Mary and John had a rough voyage of ten 
weeks across the Atlantic. The captain had agreed 
to land the passengers at Boston ; but instead of that 
he landed them nine miles from that city. They 
brought suit, and recovered damages for the violation 
of his agreement. Then they crossed the bay in 

9 



10 boys' life of general grant. 

little boats, reached Boston, and thence went to a 
place that the Indians called Mattapan, four miles 
from Boston, which they named Dorchester in honor 
of the English town whence they came. 

Five years after his arrival in the New World, 
Mathew Grant moved with his family to Windsor, 
Conn., and remained there until the time of his 
death. He was surveyor for the Windsor colony for 
more that forty years, and was also for many years 
the town clerk of Windsor. His eldest son, Samuel, 
settled on lands on the east bank of the Connecticut 
River, opposite Windsor; and his descendants are still 
to be found there. 

The founder of the Grant family in America suf- 
fered many hardships. The first meal of the Dor- 
chester settlers was of fish without any bread, and 
they had many a similar meal afterwards. Roger Clap, 
the historian of the settlement, says : " The place 
was a wilderness. Fish was a good help to me and 
to others. Bread was so scarce that I thought the 
very crusts from my father's table would have been 
sweet; and when I could have meal and salt and 
water boiled together, I asked, ' Who would ask for 
better?'" 

The reasons for the movement to Connecticut are 
not clearly known ; but certain it is that about half 
the Dorchester settlers joined in it. One old writer 



HARDSHIPS OF COLONIAL LIFE. 11 

says it was caused by " a hankering after new lands " 
which were fertile and grassy, while the region around 
Dorchester was rocky and heavily wooded; besides, 
there would he better opportunities for trading in furs 
with the Indians. The journey was one of great hard- 
ship, and so was life in the new settlement. So 
troublesome were the Indians, that the settlers built 
a stockade of trunks of trees set upright in the 
ground and close together, and all went there at 
night for safety. For many years they were in con- 
stant danger from the Indians whether at home, at 
church, in the fields, or wherever else they went. 
The Indians always came without warning; and their 
work was quick and murderous. 

In those troubled times, throughout all the New 
England colonies, the men carried their guns to church 
with them as a matter of caution ; and they took 
seats at the doors of the pews so as to be ready to 
rush out in case of an Indian alarm. To this day, 
in the New England States, though guns are no lon- 
ger carried to the house of divine worship, the seat- 
ing follows the custom of old Colonial times, — women 
and children at the head or inner end of the pew, 
and men at the door. 

No doubt Mathew Grant had his share of Indian 
fighting, and bore his part bravely. Since his time 
the Grant family has been a warlike, one as we learn 



12 

from its history. General Grant's great grandfather, 
Noah Grant, and his brother Solomon, of the fifth 
generation from Mathew Grant, held commissions in 
the English army in 1756 in the old French and 
Indian War. They went in an expedition to Canada, 
and both were killed in that j^ear. Nineteen years 
later, General Grant's grandfather, Noah Grant, went 
with a Connecticut company to join the Continental 
army in Massachusetts at the outbreak of the Revo- 
lution, and fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He 
served through the whole of the Revolutionary War; 
but was on furlough a part of the time, as he was 
married in Connecticut during the war, and was a 
widower with two children at its close. 

After the war was ended, and the independence of 
the United States acknowledged. Captain Noah Grant 
moved to Pennsylvania, and afterwards to Liverpool, 
Ohio, the second move being made in 1799. Before 
leaving Pennsylvania he married a second time ; and 
his eldest son by his second marriage was Jesse R. 
Grant, the father of the hero of our story. 

Comparatively little is known of the ancestors of 
General Grant down to the beginning of the present 
century. But certain it is that none of them were 
" cradled in luxury," and there can be little doubt 
that the firmness of will and indomitable perseverance 
for which General Grant was noted were an inheri- 



PITTSBURG IN 1799 13 

tance derived from the environments of all the fam- 
ily, from Mathew to Jesse. We have learned some- 
thing about the hardships through which Mathew 
Grant undoubtedly passed, and the conditions of life 
remained very much the same for a century or 
more after the arrival of the Mary and John. About 
the time of the Revolution, the Connecticut Valley 
became prosperous ; but prosperity could only be 
gained through industry which, though general, was 
by no means universal. There was a disposition among 
the people to emigrate to the West; and, as already 
stated, the grandfather of General Grant joined in 
the migration. 

Compare for a moment the condition of things at 
that time and at the present. 

Pittsburg was a frontier post of five hundred in- 
habitants, who lived in log houses, and were pro- 
tected by Fort Pitt, which stood at the junction of 
the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, where they 
form the Ohio. There were settlements at several 
points throughout Ohio, but none of great conse- 
quence ; and practically the whole region was a wilder- 
ness. There was a rough road over the mountains 
from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, but no turnpike ; and 
the majority of travelers who could afford any kind 
of conveyance went on horseback, the journey occupy- 
ing eight or ten days. At present, one can make it 



14 BOYS* LIFE OF GENEKAL GRANT. 

in as many hours in a Pullman car, the triumph of 
luxurious locomotion on wheels. 

Down the Ohio River, one may now travel by a 
swift steamboat, or he may skirt its banks by the 
swifter railway. In 1799 Noah Grant loaded his wife 
and five children into a flat-boat, along with a horse, 
two cows, cooking, table, and farming utensils, and 
all the rest of their worldly goods. One end of the 
boat was roofed over; and under this rough shelter, 
day and night, the boat floated with the current, 
Noah and his wife each taking turns at watching 
while the other slept. ^ 

Jesse R. Grant, the father of the general, was five 
years old at the time of this voyage. All through 
his life he remembered it perfectly, and used to tell 
how vast the river appeared to his young eyes which 
had never gazed on a stream of the size of the Ohio. 
The boat landed at what is known as Liverpool, 
Ohio, but was then a settlement of half a dozen log 
cabins at the edge of a dense forest. Here the 
family remained a short time, and then moved to 
Deerfield, where, in 1805, Mrs. Grant died, and the 
family was broken up. Noah Grant, with the two 
younger children, went to live with his eldest son, 
while the others (there were five children alto- 
gether) found homes in the neighborhood of Deer- 
field. Jesse was taken into the family of Judge 



JESSE K. GRANT. 15 

Tod, whose son was afterwards the renowned war 
governor of Ohio. Jesse also lived for a short time 
in the family of Mr. Brown, the father of John Brown 
of Harper's Ferry fame, " Whose soul goes marching 
on." 

As soon as he was old enough to learn a trade, 
Jesse Grant left Deerfield and went to Maysville, 
Ky., where he became apprenticed to a tanner. When 
he had learned his trade and was ready for business, 
he set up a tannery at Ravenna, Ohio, and a few 
years later moved to Pleasant Point, where he went 
into the same occupation. It was at Point Pleas- 
ant, Clermont County, Ohio, that the man, destined 
to conquer the greatest rebellion that the world ever 
saw, was born on the 27th of April, 1822. His mother 
was Hannah, daughter of John Simpson, whom Jesse 
Grant had married in June, 1821. 

Concerning his parents. General Grant wrote as 
follows in his " Memoirs : " — 

^' During the minority of my father, the West afforded 
but poor facilities for the most opulent of the youth to 
acquire an education ; and the majority were dependent, 
almost exclusively, upon their own exertions for what- 
ever learning they obtained. I have often heard him 
say that his time at school was limited to six months, 
when he was very young, too young, indeed, to learn 
much, or to appreciate the advantages of an education ; 
and to a ' quarter's schooling ' afterwards, probably while 



16 

living with Judge Tod. But his thirst for education 
was intense. He learned rapidly, and was a constant 
reader up to the day of his death — in his eightieth 
3-ear. Books were scarce in the Western Eeserve dur- 
ing his youth, but he read every book he could bor- 
row in the neighborhood where he lived. This scarcity 
gave him the early habit of studying everything he read, 
so that when he got through with a book, he knew 
everything in it. Even after reading the daily papers 
— which he never neglected — he could give all the im- 
portant information they contained. He made himself 
an excellent English scholar; and before he was twenty 
years of age he was a constant contributor to Western 
newspapers, and was also, from that time until he was 
fifty years old, an able debater in the societies for this 
purpose, which were common in the West at that time. 
He always took an active part in politics, but was 
never a candidate for office, except, I believe, that he 
was the first mayor of Georgetown. He supported 
Jackson for the presidency ; but he was a Whig, a great 
admirer of Henry Clay, and never voted for any other 
Democrat for high office after Jackson. 

^•My mother's family lived in Montgomery County, 
Pa., for several generations. I have little information 
about her ancestors. Her family took no interest in 
genealogy, so that m}^ grandfather, who died when I was 
sixteen years old, knew only back to his grandfather. 

''My mother's father, John Simpson, moved from 
Montgomery County, Pa., to Clermont County, Ohio, 
about the year 1819, taking with him his four chil- 
dren, — three daughters and one son. My mother, 
Hannah Simpson, was the third of these children, and 
was then over twenty years of age. Her eldest sister 



BIRTH OF OUR HERO. IT 

was at that time married, and had several children. 
She still lives in Clermont County at this writing, 
October 5th, 1884, and is over ninety years of age. Her 
brother, next of age, and now past eighty-eight, • is also 
living in Clermont County, within a few miles of the 
old homestead, and is as active in mind as ever. He 
was a supporter of the Government during the war, 
and remains a firm believer that national success by 
the Democratic party means irretrievable ruin.-" 

At the time of General Grant's birth there was 
a stream of emigration from the East to Ohio and 
other Western States. It came principally from New 
England, New York, and Pensylvania, there being 
vary few people from Virginia and the other South- 
ern States who settled north of the Ohio River. 
Steamboating in the valley of the Mississippi was 
then in its infancy, the first steamboat there hav- 
ing been launched at Pittsburg in 1811. Naviga- 
tion was principally by flatboats and keelboats, and 
a great force of men was required for handling 
them. 

The boatmen of that time were marked charac- 
ters in their way. They were a powerful, hardy race, 
unerring shots with the rifle, and fond of fighting 
and "• rough frolics " on shore. If two or more 
crews happened to meet in a town where they had 
landed for the night, there was pretty sure to be 
a fist fight, and perhaps two or three of them, be- 



18 boys' life of general grant. 

fore bedtime. After a fight, the combatants shook 
hands, and no animosity remained. Wounds and 
bruises were regarded as of little consequence ; and 
the boatmen used to boast that they had " mighty 
healing flesh." 

It was an imperative rule of the boatmen that 
they would do no work on shore, their only place 
of industry being on the water. Their principal 
land amusement was shooting at a mark, and play- 
ing rough practical jokes on each other. With the 
rifle-ball they would knock a pipe from a fellow- 
boatman's hat-band, or spill the contents of a tin 
cup as it was being raised to the holder's lips. They 
would cut off the head of a wild turkey in flight, 
and snuff a candle at fifty paces without putting 
out the light. Their most favorite amusement was 
"driving the nail." This consisted in sinking a nail 
into a tree two-thirds of its length, and then, at 
fifty paces, driving it home with a rifle-ball. 

When two of them quarreled and made up their 
differences, it was not unusual for them to shoot 
small objects from each other's heads as a mark of 
friendship. A famous boatman, Mike Fink, the best 
shot on the river, lost his life in one of these af- 
fairs. He was to shoot an apple from the head of 
a man with whom he had quarreled and made up. 
When he fired, the man fell to the ground, where- 



KEEL-BOATMEN ON WESTERN RIVERS. 19 

upon his brother shot Fink through the heart. In 
a few moments the supposed dead man rose to his 
feet; and it was found that Fink's bullet had passed 
between the man's head and the apple, making only 
a slight scalp wound. 

Occasionally the boatmen had desperate fights with 
river pirates who infested certain portions of the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers. In these encounters there was 
generally bloodshed and loss of life, especially when 
the pirates were victorious. 



20 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER II. 

Weight of the baby. — Giving him a name. — Hiram Ulysses Grant. — 
Boyhood of Ulysses. — His first smell of powder. — Fondness for horses. 
— His skill as a rider. — Hauling wood and carrying passengers. — 
Skating. — How his frozen feet were cured. — Hauling logs for the new 
jail.— "What "Dave and Me" did. — Breaking a neighbor's window 
by accident. 

" How much did the baby weigh ? " one of our 
young readers asks. 

It weighed ten and three-quarter pounds, so the 
tradition is in the family ; and it was pronounced 
a strong and healthy infant. Its name was a matter 
of great consequence, that could only be decided 
at a family council; and this was not held until the 
child was six weeks old. On the day appointed 
for the meeting, Mr. and Mrs. Grant entered the 
family wagon and drove to the house of the Simp- 
sons, the parents of Mrs. Grant, ten miles away. 
Of course the baby accompanied them; and this was 
probably his first journey away from home, and his 
first opportunity to see the world. He did not keep 
a memorandum of what he saw on or by the way; 
and history does not tell us of his comments con- 
cerning the ride, or how he " liked the country." 



NAMING THE BABY. 21 

It is possible that he remarked on returning home 
that he didn't know the world was so large. 

The council consisted of the boy's parents, his 
grandparents on the mother's side, and two maternal 
aunts; and there was a long discussion of the sub- 
ject before them, which became heated towards the 
end. Finally it was determined to vote by ballot; 
and thereupon each one wrote on a slip of paper 
the name which he or she preferred. The slips were 
then dropped into a hat, and one of the aunts was 
delegated to draw from the hat a single slip and 
read forth the name thereon inscribed. 

The scrap of paper bore the name of " Ulysses ; " 
and when all the slips were examined it was found 
that the vote stood as follows : — 

Ulysses 2 

Albert 2 

Theodore 1 

Hiram 1 

Hiram was voted by John Simpson, the father of 
Mrs. Grant, and out of deference to him it was 
subsequently prefixed to Ulysses; so that the boy 
was baptized Hiram Ulysses Grant. Albert was in 
honor of Albert Gallatin, who was then minister for 
the United States at Paris, and was highly popular 
for his many public services, which covered alto- 
gether a period of fully fifty years. 



22 boys' life of general grakt. 

Theodore was voted by one of the maiden aunts 
who thought it a pretty name ; and Ulysses was the 
choice of the boy's father and grandmother. The 
reader may wonder how such a classic name should 
have found its way into Ohio at that time, when 
schools, even of the common sort, were rare, and 
colleges practically unknown in that region. Well, 
here is the story that they tell about it : — 

A copy of Fenelon's " Telemachus " had been brought 
into the settlement, and Jesse Grant borrowed and 
read the book shortly after his marriage. Then he 
sought and obtained permission to lend it to his 
mother-in-law, and she had just completed its perusal 
at the time of the family council. Both of them 
had been forcibly impressed with the character of 
Ulysses, the father of the hero of the story, who is 
depicted as "gentle of speech, beneficent of mind," 
"the most patient of men," "equally unmoved 
against danger and reproach," and " the wise Ulysses." 
One apostrophe to Telemachus is as follows : — 

'•Your father Ulysses is the wisest of mankind; his 
mind is an unfathomable depth ; his secret lies beyond 
the line of subtlety and fraud ; he is the friend of truth ; 
he says nothing that is false, but when it is necessary 
he conceals what is true ; his wisdom is, as it were, a 
seal upon his hps, which is never broken but for an 
important purpose.'^ 



grant's babyhood. 23 

The selection of this name would seem to have 
been prophetic in view of the history of the man who 
bore it ! How marked was the resemblance between 
the characters of the Ulysses of ancient times and of 
him of the nineteenth century! Each possessed in- 
domitable bravery, wisdom, and reticence; each passed 
through many perils ; and each was noted for persis- 
tence in overcoming obstacles which stood in his way. 
Jesse Grant moved to Georgetown, in Brown 
County, when his first-born son w^as about two 
months old. Georgetown is about sixty miles above 
Cincinnati, and stands ten miles back from the 
Ohio River. The region around it is well adapted to 
the culture of the grape ; and Brown County is one 
of the best wine-producing counties of Ohio. The 
county is strongly Democratic; and the tradition is 
that some of its inhabitants vote for Andrew Jackson 
at every presidential election, unmindful of the fact 
that the hero of New Orleans has been dead for half 
a century. 

Jesse Grant carried to Georgetown a capital of 
eleven hundred dollars, which he had made and 
saved in less than two years. He started a tannery 
in his new place of residence, and was so successful 
with it that he built a small house of brick, and 
supported his family without touching his savings at 
all. In addition to his tannery he had a farm which 



24 boys' life of general grant. 

lie tilled, and about fifty acres of forest that supplied 
the family with wood. Part of the time was devoted 
to the tannery, and part to farming. Jesse was pros- 
perous as prosperity was measured in that time and 
place ; and it was all the result of steady industry. 
The man was a hard worker; and when his son was 
old enough to- be useful he had his share of work to 
do. 

Ulysses Grant passed his life in Georgetown until 
he went, at the age of seventeen, to the Military 
Academy at West Point on the Hudson. There was 
nothing very eventful in his boyhood, although there 
are several occurrences worth noting in view of what 
happened later on. Before he was two years old, a 
3^oung man, living in the neighborhood, wished to see 
what the boy would do at the report of a pistol close 
to him ; he had already been tried with one a little 
distance away, and was not at all alarmed at the 
noise. 

On this occasion the pistol was loaded and cocked, 
and then, while his father was holding him in his 
arms, the boy's finger was pressed against the trigger 
by his young friend until the weapon was discharged 
with a loud report. 

" He did not even dodge or wink," said his father ; 
''but reached out for the pistol and asked for it to 
be loaded again." 



GRANT IN HIS BOYHOOD. 



25 



A year or two later, when he was quite ill, the 
family doctor was called in to consider his case. He 
pronounced the child in a state of fever, and pre- 
scribed some powders; whereupon the little fellow 
began to cry, and said between the sobs: "Don't 
give me any powders ; they will blow me up ! " 

The matter was explained to him; and on being 
assured that he was in no danger of an internal 
explosion, he consented to take the medicine the 
doctor prescribed. 

His father says that one of the earliest character- 
istics he displayed was a fondness for horses. A 
circus visited Georgetown about the time Ulysses 
was twenty months old, and he was taken to see it. 
He enjoyed the performance very much, and laughed 
heartily at the feats of the riders and the tricks of 
the clown. Towards the end of the show, a trick 
pony was brought in, and the ring-master asked for 
somebody to ride it. Ulysses begged to be permitted 
to do so ; and when his father tried to dissuade him, 
the tears stood in the boy's eyes, and he continued 
his pleadings. So he was placed on the pony's back, 
while the animal was led slowly around the ring, to 
the great delight of his rider, and the admiration of 
the spectators who applauded loudly. 

When he was five years old he could handle the 
reins very well, and was often sent with the horse 



26 boys' life of general grant. 

and wagon for short drives. When Ulysses was seven 
and a half years old his father was away from home 
one day ; when he came home at night he found a 
large pile of brushwood in the yard in front of the 
house. His first question was as to who brought it 
there. 

"I did it, father," said the boy. "I harnessed up 
Jack, and put him in the sled; and I've been hauling 
brush from the lot all day." 

The wood-lot from which the young teamster had 
brought the brush was about a mile from the village ; 
and he loaded and unloaded the sled without as- 
sistance. 

When he was eight years old, the boy took care 
of a pair of horses and hauled wood every day, though 
he could not put on the collars and bridles of the 
animals without standing on a box or inverted tub so 
that he could reach their heads. His father says that 
Ulysses was always very kind to the horses, and that 
they reciprocated his kindness as horses are wont to 
do. " He could do anything with them he wanted 
to," said Mr. Grant ; '' and they appeared to be as fond 
of him as he was of them." 

He hauled wood not only for his father, but for the 
neighbors, and earned some money by so doing. He 
could not handle the heavy sticks to load or unload 
the wagon or sled ; this work was done by some one 



grant's fondness for horses. 27 

else at either end of the line, while the labor of 
Ulysses was confined to driving. He also earned 
money by driving to their homes people who came 
to Georgetown by stage. By the time he was nine 
years old he had saved seventeen dollars, with which 
he bought a colt; and from that time he was never 
without a horse that was his own property. He traded 
horses quite often, and generally, though not always, 
to advantage. He displayed considerable business 
ability in his transactions, though he never went as 
far as the typical operator in equine flesh who *' would 
cheat his father in a horse-trade." 

Ulysses had a brother named Simpson, three years 
younger than himself ; and the two boys were brought 
up together. They went to school whenever there was 
any school in the town, which was not the case at all 
times. There were no free schools in that part of 
Ohio at the time of which we write. Every school 
was supported by subscription, and the teachers were 
often only a little less ignorant than their pupils. 
Reading and writing, together with arithmetic as far 
as the '-rule of three," were the principal branches 
taught, with sometimes grammar and geography. A 
school contained from twenty to forty or fifty scholars. 
The pupils varied in age from two years to twenty, 
and occasionally there was some that exceeded the 
latter figure. Books and birch twigs, with rulers 



28 boys' life of general grant. 

for the older pupils, shared the honors as aids to 
learning, their relative uses varying with the tempera- 
ments of the teachers and the docility or reverse of 
it of those who came to be taught. It was the custom 
of the time to use the rod freely. If the sparing of 
it spoiled the child, as Solomon asserts, there were 
few ruined children in Ohio in the first half of the 
nineteenth century. 

General Grant says in his memoirs that his school- 
master in Georgetown always had a long switch in 
his hand; and it was not the same one either, as fre- 
quently a whole bunch of switches were used in one 
day. At home Ulysses was never subjected to punish- 
ment I but at school he obtained his full share, perhaps 
because he was not of a studious habit. He went 
to school in Georgetown from the time he was five 
years old until he went to West Point, with the ex- 
ception of two winters which he spent in Ripley, 
Ohio, and Maysville, Ky., attending private schools. 
Jesse Grant was well aware of his own deficiencies 
of education, and was anxious to give his boys as 
much schooling as he possibly could. 

But his attendance at school did not exempt young 
Ulysses from labor. Before and after school hours 
there was usually something for him to do about the 
house or farm or in the tannery. The latter work 
he detested; but he was always willing to go into 



WINTER AMUSEMENTS. 29 

the fields, and especially so if the employment there 
had any connection with horses. When he was eleven 
years old he was able to hold a plow ; and from that 
time on until he went to West Point he did pretty 
nearly all the farm-work in which horses were en- 
gaged. He plowed the land, furrowed the growing 
potatoes and corn, hauled the wood and the gathered 
crops, cared for the horses and cows, and did other 
things, which were, as auctioneers say in their ad- 
vertisements, '' too numerous to mention." 

Amusements were not abundant. There were fish- 
ing and hunting to be enjoyed occasionally, as the 
country was sparsely settled ; but game animals were 
chiefly limited to squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, and 
similar " small deer." And as for the fish, they were 
not of a kind and size to develop the habit of false- 
hood which afflicts so many fishermen in Eastern 
waters. In winter the boys of Georgetown visited 
each other's houses in the evening, playing morris, 
checkers, fox and geese, and other games, eating hick- 
ory nuts; telling stories, and repeating riddles, till 
nine o'clock came, and it was time for the visitors 
to go home. In summer the boys went frequently 
to swim in the creek which ran near the village; 
and they used to have lots of fun in a place similar 
to that which James Whitcomb Riley, sweetest of 
Western poets, has immortalized as "The Ole Swim- 
min' Hole." 



30 boys' life of general grant. 

Skating was an amusement of the Georgetown boys ; 
and it is related that on one occasion Ulysses had 
his feet frozen in consequence of having his straps 
too tight. His mother, who is said to have had a 
remedy for every ill that juvenile flesh is heir to, 
smoked the boy's feet over burning hay, and then poul- 
ticed them with bacon cut into thin slices. Whether 
the remedy belongs to the regular medical [)ractice 
or not, we cannot say ; but the frozen feet were cured. 

Occasionally when snow was on the ground, and 
of the right consistency, the boys used to get up 
snow-balling ma'tclies. They would designate two 
leaders, and then '' choose sides," the numbers being 
equally divided, or very nearly so. It is related that 
whenever Ulysses w\as one of the leaders, iiis side 
generally won the match, owing to the skill witli 
w^hich he handled his followers. He took advantage 
of weak points in his adversary's line, and in various 
ways gave promise of the superior ability as a tacti- 
tiau tliat he afterwards displayed. 

The parents and neighbors of Ulysses say that one 
of his boyhood characteristics was truthfulness. He 
never told a deliberate lie or even a " white " one, 
though lie Avas by no means a goody-goody boy such 
as we read of in story-books. If he heard or knew 
of pranks on the part of his schoolmates or playfellows, 
]i8 didn't run at once to inform upon them ; but when 



THE BROKEN WINDOW-PANE. 31 

called up and required to tell the truth, he did it, 
even though it might bear upon himself. 

One day while he and some other boys were play- 
ing ball, Ulysses knocked the ball through a pane 
of glass in a house near by. He immediately dropped 
his bat and went straight into the house, where he 
said, — 

"Mrs. Bailey, I've just broken your window, and 
am very sorry. I'll go right down to the store and 
buy a pane of glass, and come straight back and put 
it in." 

" Oh, never mind the window," was the reply ; 
"you've paid for it already by coming so promptly 
to tell about it." 

"But I do mind," said the boy; and off he went 
to the store to get the glass, which he soon had in 
the place where it belonged. 

Ulysses was not quarrelsome like many boys, but 
when he was drawn into a physical discussion he 
showed that he was no coward. A schoolmate says 
he once saw Ulysses in a fight with another boy 
named Mount, who was larger and stronger than 
our hero. Mount was getting the better of liis ad- 
versary, when the latter suddenly gave him a tre- 
mendous kick in the thigh. Thereupon Mount gave 
a loud yell and started for liis house, which was 
close by, while Ulysses hurried to his own home, 



32 boys' life of general grant. 

fearful of a '' whaling" at the hands of Mount's 
father. 

Mention has been made of the dislike of Ulysses 
for the ^York of the tanner}-. Tlie bark for tanning 
purposes comes to the mill in strips, three or four 
feet long, and of varying width. It is dry and brittle 
when ready to be ground. The bark-mill resembles 
a cider-mill in general appearance. It has an up^ 
right hopper, and the grinding apparatus is moved by 
a horse walking around in a circle and propelling 
a pole. The boy who tends the mill stands by the 
side of the hopper, and with a hammer breaks the 
bark into pieces four or five inches square, and drops 
them inside. Every time the pole comes around he 
must "duck" his head to prevent it from being hit. 

Grinding bark was the employment which Ulysses 
disliked more than any other, with the exception of 
"beaming" hides. When any grinding was to be done, 
he used to hire another boy to take his place, paying 
him twenty-five cents for his day's work. Then he 
would go away and earn a dollar, and perhaps more, 
with his horses, carrying passengers to their homes, 
or hauling loads tliat needed to be moved. In this 
way he not only secured relief from disagreeable work, 
but made money out of the transaction. 

Jesse Grant took the contract for building a jail 
at Georgetown; and this necessitated a great deal of 



WHAT "DAVE AND ME" DID. 33 

hauling of materials, chiefly of logs which were ob- 
tained in Mr. Grant's wood-lot. He owned one large 
horse which just matched one belonging to a neighbor. 
While the question of collecting material for the jail 
was under discussion, Ulysses, then twelve years of 
age, said, — 

"Father, if you'll buy Paul Devore's horse so as to 
work with ours, I'll undertake to haul the logs for 
you." 

Mr. Grant bought the horse as the boy suggested. 
Ulysses named his new animal ''Dave," and found 
him quite willing and docile. He was very proud of 
his pair of black steeds, and with them he did all 
the hauling required for the work. The logs were 
fourteen feet long and twelve inches square. They 
were cut and hewed in the forest; and when Ulysses 
went there with his team, the men helped him to 
load, while those at the jail helped in the unloading. 
The logs were large and heavy, as the reader will 
understand from their dimensions, and required sev- 
eral men to handle them. One morning rain was 
threatening; and when Ulysses came from the forest 
with his first load he remarked to his father that it 
was hardly worth while to go again that day as none 
of the hewers or choppers were there, and there was 
only one load left, and if that were taken away, 
there would be nothing for the next morning. 



o-i boys' life of general grant. 

" Were none of the men there ? " 

''No, not one." 

'• Who loaded these logs ? " 

" Dave and me did it, father." 

" Why, that's impossible," said i\Ir. Grant. 

" Not a bit, father. Dave and me did it without 
anybody's help." 

" How in the world did you manage to get the 
log's on the axles ? " 

'' There's a maple-tree there that's fallen part way 
over, with its top lodged against another tree. I 
liitched Dave to the logs one by one, and dragged 
them up to this tree ; and then I backed up the wagon, 
and snaked 'em ahead on the axles. Dave seemed to 
know just what I wanted, and we didn't have a bit 
of trouble." 

The performance became known in the neighbor- 
hood, and made Ulysses quite famous. When Gen- 
eral Grant received the surrender of Vicksburg, one 
of his boyhood acquaintances said, — 

"That's the chap that loaded a wagon with heavy 
logs when he was twelve years old. I reckon he sat 
down and planned how to take Vicksburg just as he 
planned how he and Dave were going to make up 
that load without any help." 

Evidently the jail which Jesse Grant constructed 
was not like the one in another Western town where 



Dave's intelligence. 35 

a prisoner who was confined there wrote to the sher- 
iff that he wouldn't stay any longer unless they 
repaired the jail sufficiently to keep the cows from 
straying in there and disturbing him. 

Young Grant said that Dave could do almost any- 
thing but talk, and he was sure that the animal 
understood what was said in his presence. One day 
when Ulysses was engaged in hauling logs from "the 
upper lot " as it was called, Jesse Grant said to 
UUysses, — ' 

''Go to the south lot this time for your load." 

"All right, father," was the reply. 

When the team reached the road to the south lot, 
Dave turned into it without any direction from his 
driver's voice or reins. 



36 



CHAPTER III. 

The young horsebreaker. — Riding circus ponies. — Young Grant's famous 
horse-trade. — Selling a refractory horse. — Trips to Cincinnati. — Sent 
to West Point. — How the appointment came about. — Mistake in his 
name. — Grant's sensitiveness on the subject. — Preparing for exami- 
nation. — His outfit. — Journey to West Point. — Canal, stage, railway, 
and steamboat. — West Point and its history. — Grant's proficiency. 
— Excels in horsemanship. 

Very early in life young Grant became famous 
as the best horseman in all the country, which was no 
small repute in a region where nearly every man 
was familiar with the saddle and its uses. Before 
he was ten years old, owners of horses afflicted with 
a distemper that was cured only b}^ vigorous exercise 
used to bring their animals to Ulysses to get him 
to ride them *'into a lathering sweat." He was also 
in demand for breaking colts ; and it was no uncom- 
mon sight to see the tanner's boy on a pitching, rear- 
ing, bucking beast, tearing around the square or 
along the streets that led into the country. Usually 
lie went out at a furious pace, but returned at a walk. 

Strange as it may seem at first, while he was ready 
and Avilling to earn money by teaming or driving 
passengers, he disliked to do so by breaking colts or 
vicious horses. The profession of a horse-jockev was 



TRAINING A COLT. 37 

not in good repute there, and he had no desire to be 
known as a trainer. He declined to take money for 
breaking colts for the neighbors, and refused to handle 
those that were brought to him from a distance. 

Once a neighbor came with a colt, and offered Ulysses 
two dollars to ride the animal and carry a letter to 
a town thirteen miles away. Just as Ulysses mounted 
the steed, the man said, as if the thought had just 
struck him, — 

"I wish you'd see if that colt can pace." 

When Ulysses returned from his twenty-six mile 
ride, the colt was a good pacer. Afterwards the boy 
was very angry when he found that the carrying of 
the letter was what in these days would be called 
a "fake," the real object being to have the colt trained 
to pace. 

Whenever a show came along with a trick pony 
which w^as difficult to ride, Lyss, as he was usually 
called, was always ready to try to ride him. Gener- 
ally he succeeded, but sometimes the pony's tum- 
bling and rolling on the ground were too much for 
him. When he was twelve years old, he rode a pony 
quite around the ring, but was more than a quarter 
of an hour in doing so. The pony jumped, bucked, 
reared, lay down, and rolled over, but all to no pur- 
pose. The boy clang to him with the persistence 
of a bulldog, and clearly earned the five dollars which 



38 boys' life of general grant. 

the ring-master had promised but managed to evade 
pa\' ing by a frivolous excuse. 

He used to ride standing on the saddle, or more 
frequently on a sheepskin strapped on the horse's 
back to keep the rider's bare feet from slipping. Thus 
equipped, Ulysses would go at full gallop along the 
road, standing on one foot, as he had seen riders at 
the circus, and holding the bridle in his left hand 
and a switch in his right. Generally the horses seemed 
to enter into the spirit of the sport, and needed little 
if an}^ urging. 

One day before Ulysses was ten years old, his 
father sent him to buy a horse belonging to a farmer 
wlio lived several miles away. " Offer him thirty 
dollars for the horse," said Mr. Grant; "but if he 
won't take it, you can offer thirty-five ; and rather 
than come away without the animal, offer him forty. 
If he won't take that, you may leave the horse, as 
that's all he's worth." 

Impressed with the importance of the trust reposed 
in him, the boy started on his mission. When he 
reached the house, and said that he wanted to buy 
the horse Mr. Grant had been looking at, the farmer 
suddenly aisked, — 

" How much did your father say you might pay 
for the horse ? " 

Thrown off his guard by the abruptness of the 
inquiry, the boy answered, — 



grant's horse-trade. 39 

'' Father ssaid I might pay forty dollars rather than 
not get him, but was to begin by offering thirty ; and 
if you refused it, I was to offer thirty-five." 

Of course the farmer was ready to declare, and did 
so, that he couldn't take less than forty dollars, and 
the bargain was concluded at that figure. The story 
got out, and caused Ulysses a good deal of annoyance 
as long as he remained in Georgetown; and not only 
tlien, as it followed him to AVest Point, and after- 
wards into the army. 

Mr. Grant had so much confidence in Ulysses that 
after the latter was thirteen or fourteen years old, 
lie allowed him to trade horses pretty much as he 
pleased. When the jail which has been mentioned 
was completed, Jesse sold his wagon to a farmer who 
lived twenty miles away. Ulysses was sent to de- 
liver the wagon ; and for this purpose he took a 
horse that his purchaser had left, and one of his own 
that he had recently purchased and had never been 
harnessed, though he had been used under the saddle. 

For about ten miles Ulysses got along very well. 
Then the new horse became frightened at something, 
and kicked out of the traces; and very soon he had 
freed himself from the harness, all but the bridle 
which held him to the other horse. Ulysses jumped 
off the wagon and seized the frightened animal, hold- 
ing him till he was quiet; then he replaced the har- 



40 boys' ltfk of general grakt. 

ness and tried to go on, but the beast began to kick 
again and behave as badly as ever before. 

" He will never do to go in harness," said the boy, 
"and I guess I'll sell him as soon as I can. He's 
a good saddler, and I won't be long in finding a 
market.*' 

He was close to a town at the time ; and so he 
saddled the horse and galloped away, leaving the 
quiet beast tied to a tree at the roadside. When he 
reached the town, he inquired for a horse-dealer ; and 
having found one, he speedily sold the horse for 
sixty-five dollars. The dealer hesitated about mak- 
ing a purchase of so young a boy, whereupon Ulysses 
brought forward a gentleman whom he knew to as- 
sure the dealer that a bargain with the boy was the 
same as one with his father. 

After completing his horse-trade, Ulysses borrowed 
a quiet steed with which he returned to where he 
had left his wagon and the other horse. Then he 
finished his journey ; and on the return trip restored 
the borrowed animal to its owner, and made the rest 
of the journey in the stage-coach. 

Ulysses made frequent trips to Cincinnati and 
other places by reason of engagements for hauling 
loads for merchants and others; and he kept a sharp 
watch for jobs by which he might earn money by 
the use of his horses. By the time he was sixteen 



SENT TO WEST POINT. 41 

years of age, he had traversed most of the country 
within fifty miles of Georgetown so often that he 
was pretty familiar with it; and once he went on a 
journey to Louisville, which was a great undertak- 
ing at that time for a boy of his age. He longed to 
see more of the world, and was planning to earn and 
save money enough to enable him to do so. 

The opportunity came in an unexpected manner, 
and at a time when he was not thinking of it. 

He was attending school at Ripley, ten miles from 
Georgetown, during the winter of 1838-1839. Dur- 
ing Christmas holidays the school was closed, and 
young Grant followed the example of the other 
pupils and went home. One day his father received 
a letter; and on reading it, he remarked, — 

" Ulysses, I think you are going to receive the ap- 
pointment." 

"What appointment?" the boy asked. 

"The appointment to West Point," the father an- 
swered. " I have applied for it." 

Ulysses declared that he didn't want it, and 
wouldn't go ; but his father cut the matter short by 
saying, "You'll go, I think, if I want you to." 

The boy concluded, so he has said since then, that 
he thought so, too, if his father did. The reason he 
did not want to go was that he feared he would fail 
in the preliminary examination ; and he would rather 



42 boys' life of general grant. 

stay at home all his life than do that. He had no 
real objection to going, but was fearful of the ordeal. 

The way the appointraent came about was this : — 

A boy had been appointed from Georgetown, but 
had failed in the examination. He resigned, and 
went to a private school for a year, when he was 
appointed, and failed again. A vacancy in that dis- 
trict was thus created, but the fact was not gener- 
ally known. The boy's mother was intimately 
acquainted with Mrs. Grant, and told the circum- 
stance to her. She mentioned it to her husband, and 
hinted that there was an opening for Ulysses. Jesse 
Grant caught at the hint, and immediately wrote to 
the Honorable Thomas L. Hamer, tlie member of 
Congress who had the right of nomination, request- 
ing the appointment of his son. 

There was no other applicant for the place, and so 
Ulysses received the nomination. Mr. Hamer made 
a mistake in the name of the appointee. Instead of 
Hiram Ulysses, he wrote it Uh^sses Simpson, under 
the impression that the boy's middle name was the 
maiden name of his mother, or perhaps confounding 
his name with that of Jesse's next son, Simpson. At 
all events the appointment came for Ulysses Simpson 
Grant, and no effort on the part of the individuals 
concerned could ever chano-e it. 

When he found that the mistake could not be rec 



BLUNDER IN GRANT'S NAME. 43 

tified, the youth accepted the situation, and entered 
West Point as Ulysses Simpson Grant. The blun- 
der of Mr. Hamer was an annoyance to General 
Grant throughout his whole life. While he was a 
student he was ridiculed frequently by his compan- 
ions for being somebody else than himself, or for 
having entered the academy under another's name 
because he couldn't get in on his own. Other jokes 
of the same sort were frequent; but thougli they were 
made in a friendly spirit, they could hardly be other- 
wise than annoying. The same and other jokes fol- 
lowed him after his graduation and his admission to 
the army, and he was rarely out of their echo. 

During the Civil War the story of his change of 
name was told again and again in the newspapers, 
and the same was the case while he occupied tlie 
presidential chair. For years a prominent newspaper 
that was hostile to the president and his policy in- 
variably spoke of him as Hiram U. Grant, and its 
example was occasionally followed by others. When- 
ever an opposition editor wished to be excessively 
funny, he revived this hoary joke, and wrought him- 
self into a fit of uncontrollable laughter over it. 

Naturally the appointment of the tanner's son to 
a cadetship at West Point caused a great deal of 
comment in Georgetown. Ulysses had not been re- 
garded as a bright boy, excepting, of course, by his 



44 boys' life of general guant. 

parents ; and grave doubts were expressed of the 
possibility of converting such an uncouth hid as he 
was into a polished soldier. A lawyer of George- 
to.wn, Avho was not over friendly with the boy, said 
to Jesse Grant that he wondered Congressman Hamer 
hadn't given the aj^pointment to some one who \^'Ould 
do credit to the district. 

This remark was not calculated to fall pleasantly 
on Jesse's ears, and foT a long time he felt very 
sore about it. But years afterwards when his son 
had l)ecome the most famous general in the Civil 
War, and Avas voted into the presidental chair, the 
old gentleman took great pleasure in repeating it. 

Until the time that Ulysses departed for his new 
station in life the appointment was the chief topic 
of conversation in the village, and a great source 
of comfort and pride to the parents of the boy. 
But there was a practical side to the matter which 
could not be overlooked, and that was the prepara- 
tion for the examination, and the raising of the 
money needed for the cadet. 

Ulysses put himself into the hands of a profes- 
sional teacher named Baldwin Summers, who had an 
excellent reputation, especially for mathematics and 
penmanship. He studied hard for five months or so, 
and gave up his association with horses and other 
quadrupeds. At the time of his departui-e, in May, 



JOUKNEY TO WEST POINT. 45 

1839, he had advanced considerably in book knowl- 
edge ; and his teacher said he was sure to pass the 
examination, provided he did not lose his presence 
of mind when he came before the examining board. 

Meantime the youth's mother had prepared his 
outfit of shirts, socks, and underwear generally, and 
he had spent twenty-five dollars for a suit of clothes. 
He had saved about one hundred dollars; and by 
selling a young horse for which he had no further 
use, he raised sixty more. The rules of the Mili- 
tary Academy required every cadet to deposit sixty 
dollars to pay his expenses home in case he failed 
to pass examination, or should so conduct himself 
as to be expelled. 

The sale of the horse supplied the deposit money, 
and left seventy-five dollars for tlie boy's traveling 
expenses to West Point. He went up the Ohio by 
steamboat to Pittsburg, which was reached in three 
days, and thence went by canal to Harrisburg. The 
stage would have been more expeditious than the 
canal-boat, but it was more expensive ; and, further- 
more, the water-route gave a better view of the scenery 
of Western Pennsylvania than the land one. 

The canal-route was not altogether a water-way, 
as the boats crossed the mountains by rail, being 
hauled up an inclined plane on one side and lowered 
down a plane on the other. The first railway with 



46 boys' ltfe of general grant. 

cars and locomotives to greet the eyes of our hero 
was between Harrisburg and Philadelj^hia ; and they 
made, he thought, an average speed of twelve miles 
an hour. At full speed the train went at the enor- 
mous rate of eighteen miles an hour, and seemed to 
be annihilating time and space. 

Ulysses took his journey leisurely, stopping sev- 
eral days in Philadelphia to visit his mother's rel- 
atives and see the city, which was a great curiosity 
to him. He was so long in the Quaker City that 
he had less time and money for New York ; and when 
he reached West Point on the 30th or 31st of 
May, his traveling purse was nearly empty. He was 
considerably surprised at the ease with which he 
passed the trials of examination, and at once wrote 
home to tell his parents that it wasn't such a diffi- 
cult thing after all to get into West Point. 

West Point is about fifty miles from New York 
City and on the west bank of the Hudson. It is 
partly an elevated plain, and partly mountainous 
land ; and the idea of establishing a military academy 
there was suggested, so history says, by Colonel 
Pickering, quartermaster-general of the army, shortly 
after the close of the Revolutionary War. West 
Point played an important part in the Revolution. 
It was fortified quite early in the war, was held 
alternately by the British and the Continentals, and 



HOW APPOINTMENTS ARE MADE. 47 

was the scene of Benedict Arnold's treason and 
flight. 

The authorized number of cadets at the Military 
Academy is lixed by the law which allows each con- 
gressional district, each Territory, and the District of 
Columbia, to have one cadet at the Academy; and 
there are also ten cadets appointed yearly by the Presi- 
dent. Those from the districts and Territories are 
appointed by the Secretary of War on recommenda- 
tion of membei-s from the districts or the Territorial 
delegates. 

When there are several applicants for a single ap- 
pointment, the place generally goes by favor of the 
member of Congress having the nomination. Some- 
times, in order to avoid tlie hatred of the disappointed 
ones and their friends, the Congressman opens the 
appointment to competition among the pupils in the 
schools, and publicly announces the fact in his dis- 
trict. This plan has proved an excellent one, and 
will probably increase in popularity as the years go on. 

To be admitted to the Academy, an applicant must 
be from seventeen to twenty years of age, without 
disease or deformity, and must pass an examination 
in reading, writing, including spelling, grammar, arith- 
metic and geography, particularly of his own country, 
and must have a good knowledge of the history of 
the United States. The course of instruction occupies 



48 boys' life of general grant. 

four years, and the cadet receives an allowance of 
five hundred dollars a year to pay for his board, cloth- 
ing, books, stationery, and other items of expense ; 
and he also receives the allowance of one army 
ration. 

There is a large staff of teachers and professors at 
West Point, most of them being officers who have 
graduated from the Academy. The course of study 
includes mathematics, history, geography, geology, 
chemistry, mineralogy, French, drawing, engineering, 
and military science in general. The examinations 
are rigid and thoroughly impartial ; and the cadet who 
fails to make a certain average at these examinations 
is dismissed. There is a daily record of the recitations 
of each student, and at the end of the week this record 
is posted up. The cadet's position in his class is 
determined by this record. 

Cadet Grant's record was never a high one. He 
was never at the head of his class, and sometimes got 
disagreeably near the foot. He admits that he was 
not a close student, and spent a considerable part of 
his time in reading books that had no bearing upon 
education. The military life had no charm for him; 
and he had no intention of remaining in the army 
after graduation, in case he had the good fortune to 
graduate. His idea was that he would obtain a posi- 
tion as teacher either at West Point or elsewhere, 
and thus turn his education to advantage. 



" HAZING " AT WEST POINT. 49 

The barbarous practice of " hazing " was then in 
force, and Cadet Grant had his share of it. While 
he was a "plebe," or first year student, several of the 
juniors, the class next above him, came to his room 
one night to smoke him out. They helped themselves 
to his tobacco which lay in a box on the table, and 
after filling their pipes began to smoke very vigor- 
ously. Pretty soon one of them felt unwell, then 
another, and then another. In less than half an hour 
all had retired, and young Grant remained master of 
the field. The vanquished smokers accused him of 
" doctoring " his tobacco in anticipation of their visit, 
but to this charge he always replied that the proof to 
that effect had not been presented. 

The students go into camp during part of the sum- 
mer, and the life of the camp gives an opportunity for 
the juniors to play jokes upon the plebes. During 
Grant's second year a plebe asked him on the first 
morning after going into camp, where he should go to 
get his shoes blacked. 

" Over at that tent," said Grant, pointing to the tent 
of the colonel who commanded the camp. " There's a 
man there who has charge of the whole business, and 
he'll tell you where to go." 

The plebe went as directed, but soon found his mis- 
take. The colonel answered him very gruffly, and then 
asked who sent him there. 



50 boys' life of general grant. 

" One of the men in the junior class," was the reply ; 
''but I -don't know his name/' 

" Go back and tell him I want to see him," said the 
colonel. The plebe delivered the message; but Cadet 
Grant did not see fit to complj- witli the colonel's 
invitation, and there the matter ended. 

Hazing is practically abolished at the present time 
at West Point and in most of the colleges. In the old 
days at West Point it frequently happened that stu- 
dents were severely injured and their health was im- 
paired. On one occasion, wliile a plebe was on sentry 
duty, a junior endeavored to '• have some fun " with 
him, and received a bayonet thrust in his thigh. For 
some time his life was in danger, but he ultimately 
recovered; though he was permanently disabled, and 
obliged to give up his studies at the Academy. 

But if Grant's standing was low in scholarship, it 
was offset to some extent by his horsemanship. The 
training of the cadets in that branch is severe as it 
is in everything else. They are put through a course 
of hard riding, and a goodly proportion of it is done 
without saddles. On bare-backed horses they must 
jump hurdles and bars and perform various evolu- 
tions, and the officers stand by to see that there is no 
shirking. 

The tanner's son won the admiration of everybody 
by his ability to stick on a bare-backed horse through 



grant's hoksemanship. 51 

all the exercises, including leaps of five feet and more. 
He was by all odds the best rider of his class, and 
one of the very best riders ever seen at West Point. 
His early fondness for horses and acquaintance with 
them stood him in good stead. 

At that time there was in the stable at West Point 
a huge, long-legged, sorrel horse called "York." He 
was a hard beast to handle ; and only two members 
of the class. Grant and Coutts, could ride him at all. 
Coutts frankly acknowledged that Grant was a far 
better rider than himself ; and as for the others, they 
were quite out of the question. 

York was a splendid jumper, and it was Grant's de- 
light to "put him through his paces." When the 
five-foot bar was put in place, and Grant was mounted 
on his back, York would approach the bar at a gallop, 
crouch low like a cat about to pounce on a mouse, 
and then go over the bar with a sudden spring. His 
fore-feet were thrown high in the air, his hind-feet 
gathered beneath him, and he came down to the ground 
with wonderful lightness. 

One day — it was at the final examination before the 
board of visitors — York, with Grant on his back, made 
a jump of six feet and three inches. It was the best 
leap ever made at West Point, and is marked there 
yet as '' Grant's upon York." 



62 boys' life of general gkant. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Grant thrashes an impertinent student. — A salutary lesson. — " Uncle 
Sam." — Popular with his fellows. — An arbiter of disputes. — First 
visit home. — A happy reunion. — Graduates from the Military Acad- 
emy. — His standing in his class. — Home again. — Appointed into 
the Fourth Infantry. — His first uniform. — Joins his regiment at St. 
Louis. — Meets his future wife. — Courtship under difficulties. — 
Troubles between Texas and Mexico. — Fourth Infantry ordered to 
the frontier 

Coming as they do from all parts of the country, 
and from all social ranks, the students are a mixed 
lot when they enter the Academy at West Point. 
No distinctions are made between them by their 
instructors ; the son of a millionaire or of an army 
officer is treated exactly like the son of a tanner 
or a carpenter, and must perform his duties in the 
same way. 

When the students form in squads to go to roll- 
call, they take their places in the order in which tliey 
reported for duty at the beginning of the term. 
Next to Grant and below him was a youth whom 
we will call Robinson, who was the son of an army 
officer, and the pet of his parents and all the officers 
at the post where his father was stationed. He 
was a tall, handsome fellow, and looked sneeringiy 
upon his neighbor, the tanner's boy from the back- 



THRASHING A FELLOW-STUDENT. 53 

woods of Ohio, a short, chubby youth, with manners 
somewhat uncouth, though never rude. 

One day Robinson crowded Grant out of his place 
when they assembled at roll-call. Grant, thinking it 
might have been an accident, said nothing at the 
time ; but after the class was dismissed, he told 
Robinson not to crowd him out again. 

The very next roll-call, Robinson, with a wink at 
some of his comrades, repeated the offense. Grant 
instantly knocked him down, jumped on him, and 
in less time than it takes to tell the story, gave him 
a sound thrashing. The surprise of Robinson was 
about equal to tlie delight of the rest of the class, as 
the haughty fellow was not at all popular. He took 
the lesson to heart, as many a boy has taken similar 
treatment, as he never afterwards tried to crowd 
Grant out of his place or otherwise offend him. 

Those who did not know young Grant at all well 
considered him cold and distant; and one of his 
fellow-students afterwards said of him " He would 
drip icicles in a Turkish bath." This is the equiva- 
lent of a remark concerning a certain prominent 
man of the present day, that he would be good to 
put around butter in summer-time. Two lines in 
Shakespeare's play, King Henry VIII., are not an 
inapt description of Grant's character: — 

" Lofty and sour to them that loved him not ; 
But to those men that sought him sweet as summer." 



54 boys' life of general grant. 

Partly from the seriousness of his manner, and 
partly because of his initials, Grant was nicknamed 
*' Uncle Sam" by his classmates; and the name 'ad- 
hered to him all through his services in the regular 
army. As in nearly all schools and colleges, the 
students were nicknamed either by the alteration or 
abbreviation of their own names, or on account of 
some personal attributes. Thus there were among 
Grant's classmates Steele, who was called "Doctor" 
because he had studied medicine ; and Reynolds, called 
"Dad" on account of his premature gray hair. Ham- 
ilton was " Ham," Franklin, " Frank," and Deshon, 
" Dragon." 

"Uncle Sam" grew in popularity as time went on, 
owing chiefly to his amiability and quietness of man- 
ner. He was not noted for brilliancy; in fact, he 
had a reputation for indolence which he said was 
justly deserved. He did not have a large circle of 
acquaintances ; but he had several close friends, and 
most of them remained so during his and their lives. 
Among those who knew him he was greatly admired 
for the clearness and fairness of his judgment; and 
whenever a dispute arose among them, and no agree- 
ment seemed likely to be reached, it was generally 
decided to leave it to "Uncle Sam." 

The cadets have a furlough of sixty days for 
visiting their friends at the end of the second year; 



VISITING HOME. 55 

and this is the only one allowed during their entire 
term except in the case of serious illness. Grant 
improved his furlough by going home as quickly as 
possible. He found relatives and friends very glad 
to see him, and all complimented him on his im- 
proved appearance. He was somewhat round-shouldered 
when he left Georgetown; but he now carried him- 
self with dignity, liolding his head well erect. His 
mother exclaimed after her first welcome was 
over, — 

" Why, how straight you have grown ! " 

*'Yes," was the reply; "they taught me that the 
very first thing." 

He found a horse and saddle waiting for him, his 
thoughtful father having provided them for the boy's 
use during his furlough. The time passed very 
quickly, much more so than at the Academy, where 
Grant said a week was as long as ten Ohio weeks. 
He visited his old schoolmaster and friends, and all 
his relatives that were within reach; and when the 
end of his furlough came he was at his old quarters 
in West Point. 

The remainder of his term passed somewhat more 
rapidly than did the first half of it, or, rather, it 
dragged less slowly. At the final examination and 
graduation, June 30, 1843, Grant stood twenty-first 
on a list of thirtv-nine. These were all that were 



56 boys' life of general gkant. 

left out of a hundred or more tliat entered the Acad- 
emy with him. The rest had been weeded out in 
one way or another; a few by illness, but the great 
majority by incompetence, idleness, or bad conduct. 

At that time the army of the United States con- 
tained fewer than ten thousand men ; and the Acad- 
emy at West Point graduated officers faster than 
there was need for them. It was the practice to 
commission the graduates as brevet second lieuten- 
ants, and give them choice of appointments into in- 
fantry, cavalry, or artillery whenever vacancies oc- 
curred. 

Grant put down as his first choice the cavalry, or 
dragoons as they were then called, and for second 
choice the Fourth Infantry. There was only one 
regiment of dragoons at that time, and it had its 
complement of officers and also four brevet second 
lieutenants. The Fourth Infantry was not so well 
provided with officers ; and, furthermore, there were 
other infantry regiments in case the fourth was unat- 
tainable. 

After graduation Grant received leave of absence 
for ninety days. He waited somewhat impatiently 
for his assignment to duty, as he could not order his 
uniform until he knew whether he was to be in the 
dragoons or the infantry, the uniforms of the two 
arms of the service differing greatly. At last the 



APPOINTED TO THE FOURTH INFANTRY. 57 

decision for his assignment was made ; and he received 
orders to report for duty with the Fourth Infantry, 
then stationed at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis. 
Then he hurried up the making of his uniform suit, 
in which he was anxious to appear as soon as pos- 
sible. 

When his new garments came home, he donned 
them at once and went out for a horseback ride. 
Some of the small girls and boys jeered him, and so 
did a few of the loafers and idlers who congregated 
about the public square. Grant was sensitive ; and 
tliese experiences gave him a distaste for uniforms 
and military trappings in general, from which he 
never entirely recovered. 

Lieutenant Grant, as we must now call him for a 
while, reported for duty on the 30th of September, 
1843, and began his first practical experience of army 
life. There is not much to do around a military post 
in time of peace. An officer must attend every drill 
and roll-call, and go through a certain amount of rou- 
tine; but beyond that, his time is his own, and he 
can do pretty much as he pleases. Of course a great 
deal depends on the commandant of the post, whose 
power is practically autocratic. 

Lieutenant Grant was introduced into the society 
of St. Louis, and found it very agreeable. Four or 
five miles west of the city was the home of one of 



68 boys' life of general grant. 

his classmates, F. T. Dent, the son of Colonel Fred- 
erick Dent who had settled there when a young man, 
in the year 1815. He bought some twelve hundred 
acres of land, and named the place Whitehaven in 
lionor of his old home in Maryland. There was noth- 
ing more natural than for Grant to visit his old class- 
mate, and he went to Whitehaven within a day or 
two after his arrival at Jefferson Barracks. He had 
brousfht from Ohio his horse and saddle, and was 
therefore equipped for excursions into the country. 

It soon became noticeable that Lieutenant Grant 
went very often to Whitehaven, oftener, perhaps, 
than was to be expected in visiting a classmate. The 
fact was, young Dent had some sisters ; and the eldest 
of them was Miss Julia Dent, a bright, comely girl 
of seventeen, or four years the junior of the young 
army officer. The two were congenial to each other, 
and took walks and rides together, and made calls 
upon the neighbors in company of one of the 3"0ung 
woman's brothers or sisters. 

In May, 1844, Lieutenant Grant received permis- 
sion to visit his friends in Ohio on a furlough of 
twenty days. A few hours after he started, an ordesr 
came from headquarters at Washington for the Fourth 
Infantry to go to Louisiana, but the lieutenant was 
quite ignorant of the movement. He had been at 
home two days when he received a letter from a 



SWIMMING A RIVER. 59 

comrade telling what had happened, so that he was 
not at all surprised on returning to St. Louis to find 
his regiment gone. 

On his arrival at Jefferson Barracks, he reported 
to Lieutenant Ewell (afterwards major-general in 
the Confederate army), and at the same time handed 
him his leave of absence. He obtained a few days' 
additional leave before going to join his command, 
and immediately went to Whitehaven to see his old 
classmate. 

Shakespeare says, in " A Midsummer-Night's Dream," 
that the course of true love never did run smooth. 
On his way to Whitehaven, the young officer was 
obliged to cross the Gravois, a creek that ordina- 
rily has about enough water in it to allow a child of 
two years to wade across in safety. This time it was 
swollen by recent rains into a torrent through which 
Grant was obliged to swim his hoi-se or give up liis 
visit. Under the circumstances, and knowing some- 
thing of the character of the man, we can i-eadily 
surmise what he did. He swam over, or ratlier he 
sat on his saddle while the animal did the swimming, 
and was wet through and through before reaching 
the other side. 

In this plight he went to Whitehaven, where he 
borrowed some dry clothes of liis classmate, and thus 
made himself presentable to Miss Dent who was very 



60 boys' life of general grant. 

glad to see him. Before their tete-d-tete was over, 
he made a declaration of his sentiments, and she re- 
ciprocated. Thus began their engagement, which was 
not brought to an end by a wedding until four years 
later. 

Lieutenant Grant and Miss Dent corresponded fre- 
quently during their four years of waiting. They 
saw each other but once in that time, wdien he vis- 
ited St. Louis on a short leave of absence. The 
parents reluctantly consented to the marriage, as they 
did not think that a young subaltern, with nothing 
but a subaltern's pay and with slight prospects of 
advancement, was a suitable husband for their daugh- 
ter. Besides, she would be separated from him for 
long periods ; and altogether the life of an officer's 
wife was one of hardship. 

No cause was assigned for the removal of the Fourth 
Infantry from St. Louis to Louisiana; it was ordered 
to go, and that was all there was about the matter. 
The real reason of the move was the unsettled feel- 
ing then prevailing between the United States and 
Mexico concerning Texas. 

Texas had belonged to Mexico down to 1836, when 
it rebelled, and gained its independence. For thirty 
years and more before the Revolution, it had been 
the resort of Americans of all sorts and conditions. 
and generally of a very bad sort and condition. Rene- 



TEXAS IN THE '' FORTIES." 61 

gades of all kinds sought the shelter of that region, 
where they could be beyond the reach of Ameri- 
can laws ; and the country was said to have derived 
its name from the last words of a couplet which 
ran thus : — 

"When every other land rejects us, 
This is the land that freely takes us," 

When a defaulter absconded leaving his creditors 
in the lurch, and the sheriff was unable to find him, 
it was customary for the officer to indorse on the 
warrant of arrest the letters " G. T. T.," meaning 
thereby, " Gone to Texas. " 

In Texas in those days, when men became ac- 
quainted, it was not the custom to inquire each 
other's names, but to wait until they were volunteered. 
When an acquaintance had ripened into brotherly in- 
timacy and an oath of eternal friendship, then, and 
not till then, could one of the fraternal pair ask : — 

" Would you mind tellin' me what your name was 
afore you left the States ? " 

Some interesting stories are told of the way in 
which the Texans gained their independence. Gen- 
eral Sam Houston, a native of Tennessee, was com- 
mander-in-chief of the army, and afterwards first 
president of the republic. At the battle of San Ja- 
cinto, which made Texas independent of Mexico, 
Houston had two small cannon which were carried 



62 boys' life of gekeral grant. 

on mules. But the animals with the carriages for 
the cannon had not come up ; so he ordered the 
guns to be loaded, and then had the mules backed 
around till they and the guns were aimed at the 
Mexicans. Then the cannon were discharged, and 
committed much havoc among the enemy. The recoil 
threw the mules to their knees with sufficient force 
to keep them there till the guns were reloaded. As 
the animals staggered to their feet, another discharge 
threw them forward again, with the same result as 
before. Two or three times the mules turned around 
on rising to their feet, and thus caused consternation 
among the Texans ; but fortunately the guns were 
not discharged. The story goes that these cannon 
decided the result of the battle. 

Very soon after Texas obtained her independence, 
and was recognized by the United States and several 
countries of the Old World, a movement was made 
for her annexation to the United States. The measure 
was favored by the slave party and its allies, as it 
was clearly understood that her annexation would in- 
crease the slaveholding territory of the countr}^ An- 
nexation was accomplished in 1845, and Texas became" 
one of the sisterhood of States. 

Troops were concentrated on the frontier of Texas ; 
and this was the reason why the Fourth Infantry 
was sent to the neighborhood of Fort Jessop, Louisiana, 



ON THE MEXICAN FRONTIER. 63 

about twenty-five miles east of the boundary of Texas. 
Thither went Lieutenant Grant to join his regiment, 
after his declaration of love and his acceptance by the 
lady of his admiration. 

It was hoped that the trouble between tlie United 
States and Mexico Avould cease with the annexation 
of Texas, but such was not the case. Our govern- 
ment resembled the real estate-owner who said tliat 
he always wanted the land which joined his ; and as 
fast as he obtained possession of a neighboring farm 
he proceeded to get hold of the one next it. 

The Nueces River was the western boundary of 
Texas, and even the Texan revolutionists had never 
claimed to own beyond it. But when after the an- 
nexation the United States sent an " Army of Ob- 
servation " under General Taylor into Texas, our 
claims were pushed forward to the Rio Grande, about 
one hundred miles beyond the Nueces. We had no 
honest claim whatever to the strip of land between 
the two rivers, but we wanted it, and took it. Our 
action was about as honorable as that of the armed 
bandit who robs a lone traveler on the road, or a 
midnight prowler who appropriates the fowls in a 
farmer's henhouse. 

Since the time of which we write Texas has greatly 
increased in population and wealth. Immense herds 
of cattle roam over its prairies ; and it produces cotton, 



64 boys' life of general grant. 

corn, and other staples in great quantit}'. There is a 
stringent hiw in Texas against the sale of intox- 
icants, and another against the carrying of concealed 
weapons; and altogether the community is an orderly 
one. 

In the cattle industry any animals over a year 
old that are found without a brand are called "• Mav- 
ericks," and the name is said to have originated as 
follows : — 

In the early days of the cattle industry, one Colonel 
Maverick took possession of an island in one of the 
rivers, and placed some cattle upon it so that he 
could know where to find them when he wanted 
them. He paid little attention to his property. The 
cattle increased and multiplied, and began to stray 
from the island, so that other cattle owners fre- 
quently found unbranded animals from Maverick's 
herd among their own stock. One day a party of 
them reported to the colonel that two thousand bulls 
belonging to him were in their lierds, and he conld 
have them by picking them out. " For Heaven's 
sake, boys," said he, " go in and help yourselves ! " 
From that time on an unbranded yearling has been 
called a Maverick, and is appropriated by the finder. 

Strangers in Texas are made the victims of vari- 
ous practical jokes, and among them is tliat of quail- 
bagging. A party of six or eight go out to catcli 



QUAIL-BAGGING. 65 

quails at niglit, by driving them into large sacks that 
are distended at tlie mouth by means of hoops. The 
bags are set up with candles above them to attract 
the birds. Two of the party, novices, are left to 
watch the bags, while the others disperse '' to drive 
in the quail.'' Instead of driving quail they go 
home, leaving the two unfortunates to continue on 
the watch as long as they choose to stay. 



QQ boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER V. 

On to Texas. — General Taylor. — Desires of the Government. — State of 
affairs at tliat time. — Landing of the Fourth Infantry at Corpus 
Christi. — On the Nueces. — Grant's personal mishap. — Kinney, the 
mule-trader. — Smuggling as a profession. — Hunting nenr Corpus 
Christi. — Capturing wild horses. — Grant's horse transactioiis. — His 
promotion. — Brevet rank. —Marching to the Rio Grande. — Encoun- 
tering great herds of wild horses. — Sights on the plains. 

The Fourth Infantry, with portions of other regi-. 
ments, remained in camp at the spot whither it went 
from St. Louis, and after the annexation it was moved 
into Texas. It first went to New Orleans, where 
it remained for a time, and then embarked on sail- 
ing-ships for Corpus Christi, near the mouth of the 
Nueces. Horses, mules, camp equipage, personal bag- 
gage, ammunition, and other things were put on 
board with considerable difficulty, and the work con- 
sumed several days. 

General Zachar}^ Taylor, who commanded the Army 
of Observation, was ordered to take possession of the 
disputed territory. The Mexicans had announced that 
they would resist any advance beyond the Nueces ; 
they had never acknowledged the independence of 
Texas, and declared that in any event the new State 
could claim nothing beyond that river. 



GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 67 

General Taylor was a man of strong personality. 
He was fond of agriculture, and during his whole 
military career he owned a farm, and spent upon it 
all the time he could spare from his duties. Through- 
out his whole life he drank only water as a bev- 
erage ; and he used to say that he had never known 
an officer or soldier, or any one else connected with 
the army, who got into disgrace and was cashiered 
or discharged, who could not trace his trouble, either 
directl}^ or indirectly, to the use of ardent spirits. 
Soon after his return from Mexico he dined with a 
gentleman who insisted that the general should taste 
some of his wine, w^hich he considered among the 
best in the world. General Taylor tasted of the 
wine, and immediately followed it with a glass of 
water, Avliich he drained to the last drop. As soon 
as he could speak, he said, " I was never much of 
a judge of wine, anyway." 

After the capture of Matamoras, the first steamer 
that arrived from New Orleans brought a consider- 
able quantity of fine brandy and wines as presents 
to General Taylor from several gentlemen of that 
city. The general ordered the entire lot to be taken 
to the hospitals for the use of the sick, reserving 
nothino- for himself. 

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, in her " Travels 
in America," describes her visit to Genei-al Taylor 



68 boys' life of general grant. 

at the White House while he was president. He 
talked with her in a very animated way, advising 
her not to leave America without seeing the Mis- 
sissippi River, and traveling on it from St. Louis 
to New Orleans. He spoke kindly of England; and 
referring to steam navigation between the two coun- 
tries, he said, — 

" The voyage will be made shorter and shorter : 
and I expect England and America will soon be 
alongside of each other, ma'am." 

The sailing-vessels that carried the troops from 
New Orleans were a long time in assembling at Cor- 
pus Christi. General Taylor did not consider it pru- 
dent to begin landing until the best part of the army 
had arrived, and so the beginning of the landing 
was delayed. The bay at the mouth of the Nueces 
is shallow; and the landing was made by means of 
boats, small and large, and two or three small steam- 
boats which had been brought along for landing 
purposes. Lieutenant Grant was actively employed 
in the landing preparations, and had some rough 
experiences. 

In transferring stores, men, horses, and baggage, 
from the ships to the boats, the loads were lowered 
down by means of pulleys. When the water was 
smooth, which was not very often, there was no great 
difficulty in the operation ; but when the " land swell '* 



A SLIGHT MISHAP, 69 

was on, a considerable amount of care was requisite. 
The loads were lowered to a point a little higher 
than the deck of the boat. Then the swell was 
watched until the ship and boat were both together 
in the trough of the sea, when the signal was given, 
and as quickly as possible the load was drawn over 
the boat and lowered rapidly to its deck. 

Lieutenant Grant went ashore with some of the 
earliest of the landing party. After he had been 
there a few days, he had occasion to go back to the 
ship, which he easily did by one of the returning 
boats. When the object of his visit was accomplished, 
and he was to go ashore again, he thought he knew 
enough about the working of the pulley to lower 
himself without any help. So he mounted a railing, 
seized the pulley-rope between the upper pulley and 
the lower one, put his feet on the hook, and swung 
himself away. Instantly his feet rose in the air with 
great rapidity, and his head went down at the same 
rate of speed ; he lost his hold, and made a plunge 
of twenty-five feet into the water, going down head 
foremost in the manner of a diver. 

He thought he touched bottom, but wasn't quite 
certain. When he rose to the surface once more he 
looked around with a good deal of astonishment, 
but did not lose his presence of mind. He was a 
very good swimmer, and easily sustained himself until 



70 boys' life of general grant. 

a ro})e was lowered to liim, and he was lifted to 
the deck of the ship without having suffered any 
injury whatever, other than being wet through to 
the skin. When it was found that he had escaped 
unhurt, nobody sympathized with him in the least, 
but every one thought it was a capital joke. Grant 
did not see the joke at that time as plainly as did 
the others ; and it was not till his clothing was fully 
dry that he could see the humorous side of the per- 
formance. 

At that time Corpus Christi consisted of a cluster 
of perhaps twenty small houses, and the inhabitants 
of the place were principally engaged in smuggling. 
An American named Kinney was the leading man 
of the place, and the rest of the population were 
mostly subordinate to him. Kinney brought goods 
from the United States by means of sailing-craft 
from New Orleans. When they were landed, he made 
them up into packages of one hundred pounds for 
convenience in carrying, and two of these packages 
made a load for a mule. They w^ere fastened to- 
gether with ropes, and slung across the backs of these 
sturdy animals. There w^ere no wagon-roads in that 
part of the country, at least none that were prac- 
ticable for business purposes ; and consequently every- 
thing that had to be transported was carried on the 
backs of mules. 



A FRONTIER SMUGGLER. 71 

Kinney was occasionally visited by Mexican sol- 
diers, who wanted to break up his business ; and he 
was also visited at irregular intervals by the Co- 
manche Indians, who wished to steal his goods. He 
bought off the soldiers with silver and gold coin, and 
fought off the Indians with a stock of rifles and other 
weapons which he kept constantly at hand and ready 
for use. There has alwa3'S been a great deal of 
smuggling into Mexico from tlie north, as it is prac- 
ticably impossible for the Mexicans to maintain an 
efficient guard along their extended frontier. 

Kinney was at first inclined to look very coldly 
upon the new arrivals ; but on finding that General 
Taylor respected private property, and paid for every- 
thing he wanted, he became friendly, and furnished 
the American commander with a good deal of infor- 
mation concerning the country around them and its 
resources. 

There was not a single house or settlement of any 
kind between the Nueces and the Rio Grande. The 
roads across the country were mere trails. Much of 
the region was a sandy desert; and there were occa- 
sional stretches of forest and chaparral, or thickets 
of brush and tall reeds. It was impossible to pene- 
trate far into the chapparral without cutting one's 
way with a hatchet; and the density of tlie vegetable 
growth made .the place a splendid one for an am- 



72 boys' life of general grant. 

bush. The country abounded in game, and the officers 
spent a good deal of their leisure time in hunting. 

One day while Lieutenant Grant and a friend were 
out on a hunt they suddenly came upon a party of 
Comanches. The Indians were not more than half a 
mile away when tlie officers discovered them, and 
then followed a wild ride in the direction of Corpus 
Christi. At first the Indians gained on the officers, 
and it looked very much as though the latter would 
lose their scalps; but after a time the tables w^ere 
turned, and the Comanches fell behind. They did 
not abandon the chase until Corpus Christi and the 
camp were within less than a mile, and they knew 
that farther pursuit was useless. 

The Mexicans used to hunt deer with a stalking- 
horse; that is, they had the dry skin of the head, 
neck, and about half of the body of the horse. This 
they pushed along before them, while they themselves, 
armed with their rifles, crawled on the ground, occa- 
sionally stopping as if to feed, until they got within 
shooting distance of the game. 

There were great numbers of horses on the plains 
around Corpus '" Christi and away to the north. 
Horses were cheap in this locality, as the Mexicans 
could catch them without much difficulty wlienever 
they wanted any. One day General Taylor called 
together all the ^Mexicans and other idlers around 



HUNTING WILD HORSES. 



73 



the camp, and said he would give a fair price for 
fifty wild horses. 

Hardly had the words passed his lips before sev- 
eral Mexicans sprang on their steeds and started for 
the herds of wild horses thirty or forty miles away. 
They built a corral, or yard, with a fence about ten 
feet high, and with a funnel-shaped entrance extend- 
ing out on the plain for a mile or more. Then 
they surrounded a herd and drove it in, selected 
fifty of the best of the animals, turned the others 
loose, and hastened back to camp with their prizes. 
The captives were turned over to General Taylor; 
and the Mexicans thought they were well paid on 
receiving five dollars apiece for the animals. In a 
short time two-thirds of them had been broken to 
harness, and the rest were sold to the officers at 
prices varying from five to twenty dollars. 

Lieutenant Grant bought three of the captured 
horses, and came near having his neck broken while 
training them. He had them well broken to the 
saddle just before the army moved, but lost them all 
by an unfortunate accident. A colored boy, who 
looked after the tent, did the cooking for Grant and 
another officer, and attended to their horses, was 
one day riding one of Grant's horses to water and 
leading the other two. The led horses pulled him 
from the back of the one he was riding, and then 



74 boys' life of general grant. 

all three ran away. Some one mentioned the mat- 
ter to Captain Bliss, General Taylor's adjutant-gen- 
eral; and the latter remarked, "Yes, I heard Grant 
lost five or six dollars' worth of horses the other 
day." Grant afterwards said that the remark was 
a slander, as the horses cost nearly twenty dollars 
instead of six. He never saw or heard of them 
afterwards. 

The officers and soldiers in General Taylor's army 
had a good deal of fun with occasionally a broken 
limb in subduing the horees which were caught as 
described. When the animals were fully subdued, 
pony races became fashionable, and there was a great 
deal of fast riding up and down the beach. Nearly 
every race was accompanied by tumbles; and on some 
occasions fully one-half the riders were on the 
ground before the contest ended. By degrees the 
horses were sobered down, and became fair riding- 
beasts. They were well-formed and powerful crea- 
tures, closely resembling the Norman horse, and with 
lieavy tails and manes. They were much better for 
practical use than the horses brought fiom the 
States, as the northern horse required to be fed, 
partly, at least, on grain, while the captured horse 
had never seen a particle of grain in his life, and 
thrived well on grass alone. 

Gradually General Taylor's army got in readiness 



AT CORPUS CHRISTI. 



75 



for active work. It was an army of about three 
thousand men in all ; but it was of excellent material, 
and thoroughly drilled and disciplined. In the begin- 
ning it was composed entirely of regular troops ; but 
later on it was largely augmented by several volun- 
teer regiments. The position at Corpus Christi was 
not disturbed at all by the Mexicans. It was known 
that they were in camp on the banks of the Rio 
Grande, and had been ordered not to cross the coun- 
try to the Nueces and provoke a conflict. 

The policy of the Government was to so arrange 
matters as to have the Mexicans bring on hostili- 
ties; but finding that the Mexicans would not come 
to the Nueces, it was necessary to go to the Rio 
Grande and meet them. 

While the army was in camp at Corpus Christi, 
Lieutenant Grant was promoted from the rank of 
brevet second lieutenant to a full second lieutenancy. 
Perhaps some of our readers may require an expla- 
nation of the term '' brevet." It is an honorary appel- 
lation; and when conferred on an officer, promotes 
him to receive the full pay of the rank to whicli 
he is brevetted when he performs the duty thereof. 
Tiius a colonel promoted for meritorious service of 
some kind receives a commission as brevet brigadier- 
general. He is not a full brigadier-general and en- 
titled to the entire pay thereof, but he still remains 



76 boys' life of general grant. 

a colonel. There is this difference however: when- 
ever he is assigned to the command of a brigade, he 
is entitled to the full pay of a brigadier-general, 
which would not be the case had he not received the 
brevet rank. 

In his promotion, Lieutenant Grant was appointed 
into the Seventh Infantry; but he had become so at- 
tached to the Fourth, that he asked and obtained 
permission to remain in it. The regiment at that 
time was commanded by Colonel Whistler, who liad 
been in the service for forty years ; in fact, he was 
the oldest officer in term of service, except General 
Scott. 

Orders came from Washington for the advance of 
the army towards the Rio Grande. The advance be- 
gan on the 8th of March, 1846, and was led by the 
Four til Infantry, the regiment in which Lieutenant 
Grant was serving. There was no enemy in the way, 
the scouts having just reported that the Mexicans 
were holding close to the bank of the Rio Grande, 
and giving no indication of any intent to move out 
and meet the Americans. 

The camp was completely broken up; and the pro- 
cession of soldiers, infantry, cavalry, and artillery, 
and the long line of baggage wagons with their 
snow-wliite covers, made a picturesque sight. At the 
start, the men marched as if uu parade ; but before 



MARCH TO THE RIO GRANDE. 77 

the first mile was ended, the order was given ''Arms 
at will ! " and the soldiers were permitted to travel 
as they pleased, except that they were forbidden to 
straggle by the roadside or wander away from their 
commands. 

The march across the country from the Nueces to 
the Rio Grande consumed fourteen days. General 
Taylor had given strict orders that there should be 
no plundering of any kind; but for the greater part 
of the way it made little difference what the orders 
were, as there wasn't anything to be taken, and no- 
body to be plundered. As before stated, the country 
was quite unsettled, while its sole inhabitants were 
deer, wild horses and other animals, and birds that 
had never seen a hunter. 

When the army neared the eastern bank of the 
Rio Grande, they came upon gardens and fields and 
houses, and then the regulations of the commanding 
general came into force. Nothing was taken with- 
out being paid for; and the inhabitants, who were 
very much afraid at first, were soon convinced that 
the dreaded Americans were not as black as they 
had been painted. 

One day during the march, the greater part of the 
herd of horses from which their captured animals 
were taken was seen in the front of the column. 
The army Avent into camp early that afternoon, and 



78 boys' life of general grant. 

some of the officers rode out to examine the herd. 
They found the animals very numerous ; and Lieu- 
tenant Grant, who was of the party, said that he did 
not believe the herd could be pastured in the State 
of Rhode Island or Delaware, without eating up all 
the grass in one day and moving to another State on 
the next to avoid starvation. Such were the herds 
of wild horses in Texas fifty years ago ; and quite as 
large, too, were the herds of buffalo tliat roamed 
the prairies of the West in the first half of this 
century. These great herds of horses and buffalo 
have totally disappeared, and only a few scattered 
hundreds of these animals remain in a wild state. 
Such is the destruction that accompanies civilization. 
General Taylor reached the Rio Grande at Point 
Isabel, where he established a depot of supplies ; and 
then marched about thirty miles up the river, till he 
reached a point opposite Matamoras. 



IN SIGHT OF MATAMOUAS. 79 



CHAPTER VI. 

Arrival opposite Matamoras. — Fort Brown and Brownsville. — Attack 
by Mexicans. — Point Isabel. —Sending for provisions. — Fort Brown 
shelled. — Taylor's return from Point Isabel. — Attacked by the 
Mexican army. — Battle of Palo Alto. — An artillery duel. — Battle 
of Resaca de la Palma. — Victory for the Americans. —Grant's part 
in the battles. — Return to Fort Brown. — Occupation of Matamoras 
and Camargo. — Movement on Monterey. 

Mexican flags were flying in great numbers over 
the flat-topped houses of Matamoras, and considerable 
crowds of people were on the roofs of tlie dwellings 
watching the new arrivals on the opposite bank. 
The river at tliis point is about four hundred feet 
across, and if the Mexicans had desired to do so they 
could have disturbed the strangers very nuich by in- 
fantiy and artilleiy fire. Mexican soldiers were nu- 
merous in the streets of Matamoras, and just below 
the city there was a military camp of considerable 
extent. The indications were that the Mexicans out- 
numbered the Americans two to one, but not a hostile 
shot was fired on either side. 

The day the army arrived, some children were pad- 
dling about the river in a boat and came over to the 
American shoi'e. The soldiers treated them kindly, 
and played with them, the little ones showing no 



80 boys' life of general grant. 

fear of the strange men among whom they had fallen. 
Suddenly agonizing shrieks were heard from the op- 
posite shore, supposed to come from the mothers of 
the young estrays. The children were at once bundled 
into the boat and sent home, where they greatly aston- 
ished their parents by their return safe and unharmed. 

A few days after the arrival of General Taylor 
opposite Matamoras, a scouting-party of cavalry under 
command of Captain Thornton was attacked by the 
Mexicans several miles from Fort Brown, a fortification 
which General Taylor had thrown up. Captain Thorn- 
ton was killed with several of his men, and the rest 
were captured. This was exactly what our govern- 
ment desired. A condition of war existed, and Mexico 
had fired the first shot! 

When the news reached Washington, and was made 
public, there was great excitement in the National 
Capital. There were no telegraphs in those days ex- 
cept a line between New York and Washington, the 
telegraph not being fairly established in America until 
two or three years later. The country became wild 
over the intelligence, and the war spirit was rampant. 
President Polk issued an extraordinary proclamation, 
stating that a condition of war existed, the Mexicans 
having shed the blood of our soldiers on our own 
soil. Congress authorized the raising of fifty thousand 
volunteers to carry the war into Mexico, and punish 



MEXICANS BOMBARD FORT BROWN. 81 

that country for her insults and outrages. , Volunteer 
regiments were formed with great rapidity, and sent 
to re-enforce the army in the field. 

Meantime, the provisions which General Taylor 
brought with him from Corpus Christi had run short, 
and it was necessary to renew them. For this pur- 
pose General Taylor sent his wagon-train to Point 
Isabel, with nearly his whole army as an escort. He 
left Fort Brown in the possession of two companies 
of the Tenth Infantry, commanded by the major after 
whom the fortification was named. Immediately on 
the departure of the American army, the Mexicans 
began shelling Fort Brown, and continued to bombard 
it for six or eight days. The garrison fought vigor- 
ously, and held the fort ; though it is proper to say 
that the Mexicans made no attempt to carry it by 
storm. Only tw^o of the garrison were killed (one 
of them being the commandant, Major Brown^, and 
some ten or twelve wounded. 

General Taylor and the force accompanying him 
reached Point Isabel without molestation. The wagons 
were loaded, and on the 7th of May the army left 
Point Isabel on its return to Matamoras. About noon 
on the 8th of May, while the men were halted about 
three miles from Palo Alto, they became aware of the 
presence of the enemy. Palo Alto means " tall tim- 
ber," and the name was given to the place on account 
of the high trees in its vicinity. 



82 boys" life of general grant. 

When the army got in motion again, it was attacked 
by the Mexicans with artillery and cavalry. Grant's 
regiment sustained a heavy fire, both at the opening 
of the engagement and later on. The Mexicans were 
under cover of the timber, and thus had an advantage 
over the Americans who were marching across the 
treeless prairie. The grass on the prairie was tall, 
so that only the heads of the men were visible as they 
marched alonor. Before the Americans cam': within 
range of the Mexicans' guns, Taylor formed his army 
into line of battle ; and when everything was ready 
the line was ordered to advance. 

As soon as the Americans got within range of the 
enemy's guns, the Mexicans opened fire. The can- 
non-balls passed through the American ranks, but 
did not at first injure anybody, as they struck the 
ground before reaching the Americans, and then 
ricochetted, or rebounded, through the tall grass so 
slowly that the Americans could see them coming, 
and open the ranks to allow them to go harmlessly 

by- 

During the battle a soldier on the right of the 
line got beyond two Mexican soldiers, and was con- 
siderably alarmed when he found where he was. 
But he determined to put on a bold front, and actu- 
ally succeeded in driving his two enemies within 
our lines, although both of them were armed. When 



BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 83 

he came with his prisoners before his colonel, the 
latter asked in astonishment, — 

'' How did you manage to capture these two Mex- 
icans at once ? " 

"I just surrounded 'em and fetched 'em in," was 
the reply. 

The battle of Palo Alto lasted four or five hours, 
and was principally an artillery duel, the Mexicans 
firing nothing bi^ solid shot, while we fired both 
shot and shell. General Taylor had several twelve- 
pound howitzers throAving shell, and also three eigh- 
tp.en-pounders. The latter were drawn by oxen, and 
therefore moved slowly ; but they had a long range, 
and did excellent work. The Mexicans were in much 
larger numbers than the Americans. In consequence 
of the superiority of the American guns, it is prob- 
uble that the Mexican loss was much greater than 
that of the Americans, the latter being nine killed 
and forty-seven wounded. The Mexicans fell back 
two or three times during the battle ; and at the 
*^lose of the day the Americans occupied the ground 
which was held by the Mexicans when the fight 
began. 

On the morning of the ninth, an examination of 
the ground in front of the Americans showed that 
the enemy had retired during the night. The army 
pushed forward slowh', Lieutenant Grant beino- sent 



84 boys' life of general grant. 

forward with his company to explore the chapaii'al 
on the right of the advance, and prevent the army 
being ambushed. This was a hazardous piece of 
work; but work that was necessary, and cheerfully 
performed. Luckily for Grant and his men, nothing 
was found to interfere with their movements. They 
moved slowly on till they came to a line of ponds 
or lakes formed by a change in the bed of the 
Rio Grande a long time before. The Mexicans had 
gone to the other side of these ponds, and thrown 
up a defense of dead trees and brush in their front, 
and placed their artillery so as to defend the ap- 
proaches to their position. 

Word was sent back to the army; and while it 
was coming up, the advance party to which Lieuten- 
ant Grant belonged began firing upon the enemy. 
When the army arrived. Grant pressed forward with 
his company whenever he could find a chance to do 
so, and suddenly found himself much nearer the 
enemy than he thought he was. The fighting became 
general, and after a time the Mexicans gave way. 
Grant pursued a battalion of them until he discov- 
ered that he had penetrated quite a distance into 
their lines. Luckily for him, the Mexicans whom 
he pursued halted and surrendered, and he dropped 
back a little until he rejoined his own line. 

The fight of the 9th of May is known as the 



BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA. 85 

battle of Resaca de la Palma, which means '-Grove 
of Palms." The artillery was used much less than 
at Palo Alto, owing to the thickness and the density 
of the chaparral. The infantry was several times 
engaged ; and more than once during the battle bay- 
onets were crossed. When the Mexican line gave 
way, it broke in great confusion, the Mexicans fleeing 
towards the river about three miles back in the 
rear of where the line of battle had formed. The 
pursuing Americans found the enemy's camp with 
a good breakfast ready cooked and the tables spread 
for eating. Some of the soldiers wanted to stop and 
be the uninvited guests of the Mexicans, but their 
officers pushed them on after the fleeing foe. Many 
of the latter were killed while retreating, and many 
Avere drowned in the Rio Grande while attempting to 
swim over to the other side. 

The American loss in killed and mortally wounded 
at Resaca de la Palma was forty-four. Among the 
killed was Lieutenant Cochrane of the Fourth Infan- 
try, Grant's regiment. General Taylor captured eight 
cannon, two thousand small arms, several flags, and 
a large quantity of military supplies and camp equi- 
page. Nearly one thousand prisoners were taken, and 
were marched along with the army to Fort Brown. 
Lieutenant Grant was under heavy fire several times 
during both battles, but escaped unharmed. 



86 boys' life of general grant. 

General Taylor's march the rest of the way to 
Fort Brown was not interrupted; and when his army 
reached there the firing upon the fort was stopped 
at once. 

In a few days the Mexicans evacuated Matamoras, 
and General Taylor crossed tlie river and took pos- 
session of the town. They found it a pleasant old- 
fashioned Mexican settlement; some of the houses of 
stone, but the majority constructed of adobe or sun- 
dried brick. Adobe is one of the most common build- 
ing materials throughout Mexico, as it is both cheap 
and durable. The bricks are made of clay, sand, and 
straw, and are almost identical with the bricks which 
the Israelites made in Egypt many hundreds of years 
ago. 

After the occupation of Matamoras by the Amer- 
icans, the army changed its name again. At first, 
as the reader knows, it Avas called the " Army of 
Observation;" then when it came to Corpus Christi 
it^was the "Army of Occupation," meaning thereby 
that it was possessing territory which w^as in dispute 
between the United States and Mexico. Now that 
we had passed beyond the boundary of all our claims, 
the force under General Taylor's command became 
the "Army of Invasion." 

At the time President Polk issued his proclama- 
tion declaring the existence of a state of war, Gen- 



INVADING MEXICO. 87 

eral Scott, who was then the ranking officer of the 
army, was instructed to proceed to Mexico by way 
of Vera Cruz. His plan was to land near the last- 
named city and establish his camp, and begin siege 
operations as soon as possible. After capturing Vera 
Cruz he would then follow the road to the City of 
Mexico, up the eastern slope of the mountains which 
stand between that city and the sea. 

General Taylor received orders to advance into Mex- 
ico, and then . proceeded to occupy Camargo, farther 
up the Rio Grande. Volunteer regiments arrived one 
after another, and were landed at Point Isabel, or 
taken up the river by steamboats to Matamoras or 
Camargo. Some of the troops marched along the 
banks of the river; but the heat was so great that 
the marching was done principally at night. It was 
the custom to break camp about midnight, march 
until nine in the morning, and then form camp again. 

The policy of conciliation towards the people that 
had been commenced at Corpus Christi was adhered 
to by General Taylor. No marauding was allowed; 
everything taken was paid for; and many of the in- 
habitants who had fled in terror at tlie approach of 
our troops, returned to their homes when they learned 
how matters were going. General Taylor gave orders 
that Camargo should be fortified; and a line of de- 
fense was thrown up. It was here that General Pil- 



88 boys' life of geneual grant. 

low, a volunteer officer from Kentucky, committed 
the mistake of placing the ditch of his fortification 
on the wrong side. This blunder became widely 
known, and adhered to him through life. 

At Camargo, Lieutenant Grant was made acting- 
assistant-quartermaster, in charge of the property of 
the Fourth Infantry. It was an appointment of con- 
siderable importance, entailing much more activity and 
responsibility than his former position of second lieu- 
tenant in the line. It required considerable business 
capacity, and the records show that the young lieu- 
tenant acquitted himself creditably. 

During the halt at Matamoras and Camargo, there 
was comparatively little for the officers and soldiers 
to do. There was a large amount of military stores 
in Matamoras, left behind by the retreating Mexicans; 
and among their public property was a great quan- 
tity of cigars and tobacco. Tobacco was a govern- 
ment monopoly in Mexico, the same as in France, 
Spain, and other Continental countries. General Tay- 
lor distributed the tobacco and its products among 
the soldiers, and for a few days nearly everybody 
seemed to be engaged in smoking for at least twelve 
out of the twenty-four hours. 

The hospitals w^ere full of wounded Mexicans, and 
our army surgeons were kept busy attending them. 
Many of our soldiers mingled with the natives, and 



ADVANCE ON MONTEREY. 89 

endeavored to learn Spanish; and very quickly they 
were on the best of terms with the people. 

It was not until late in August that the army 
was in readiness to be put in motion. Monterey 
was General Taylor's objective point, the largest city 
of Northern Mexico, and finely situated on a pla- 
teau two thousand feet high. General Taylor moved 
in its direction with an army of six thousand men, 
about equally divided between regulars and volunteers. 
There was no hurry about the movement; and the 
marches were slow, avoiding as much as possible the 
great heat of the middle of the day. The plan of 
the movement up the river to Camargo was followed ; 
the army breaking camp at midnight, marching un- 
til nine in the morning, and then going into camp 
until midnight came around again. The army moved 
in four divisions, one day apart from each other ; and 
on nearing Monterey, the foremost divisions halted, 
until the others came up. 

The roads were very bad, and a wagon-train which 
up to Camargo had been quite sufficient for the 
needs of the army was totally inadequate for the 
movement to Monterey. To make up for the de- 
ficiency it was necessary to hire pack-mules, and also 
to hire Mexicans to manage them. If the work of 
management, packing, handling, and driving had been 
thrown upon the soldiers, it would have required 



90 boys' life of general grant. 

about twice as many men as they had in the army at 
the time. 

It took several hours to pack up the camp equi- 
page of a regiment, and load it on the backs of the 
mules. By the time the last of the mules were 
loaded the first had got tired of standing, and kicked 
their burdens off; and when they began to kick they 
usually kept at it until everything, packsaddle in- 
cluded, was scattered about on the ground. Some 
would start to run, humping their backs, or '* buck- 
ing " as the process was called, at the same time 
kicking their heels high in the air. If this was not 
successful they would try to disarrange their packs 
by lying down and rolling on the ground. Mules 
that had been loaded with tent-poles would manage 
to get a small tree between themselves and the poles, 
and in this way they were quickly released from 
their burdens. Lieutenant Grant learned all about 
the business in his capacity of assistant-quarter- 
master. In speaking of it, he said tliat he Avas not 
aware of ever having used profane language in his 
life, but he could excuse any man who did so while 
in charge of a train of Mexican packing-mules. 

The Mexicans made no opposition to General Taj^- 
lor's advance. A few squads of cavalry were seen, 
and that was all ; and very often the cavalry came 
quite near the advance of our army. Orders had 



A PRACTICAL JOKE. 91 

been issued that there should be no shooting at the 
Mexicans unless they began first. Everywhere the 
people fled as the invaders approached ; but within 
a day or two most of them returned and found 
their property unharmed. 

Several regiments of volunteers had been added 
to General Taylor's force previous to the departure 
from Camargo, and the regular soldiers took great 
delight in playing pranks upon them. One day a 
volunteer soldier missed a book that he was reading, 
and after making inquiries throughout his regiment 
he continued them among some regulars who were 
camped near him. One of the regulars pointed to 
General Taylor's tent, and said, — 

''I saw an old fellow in that tent reading a book, 
and I guess it must have been yours." 

The volunteer bent his steps to the tent, where 
he found "an old fellow" in plain clothes, whom 
he at once accosted with, — 

"Say, old chap, you've got my book, and I want 
it." 

" I haven't your book, my man," was the reply. 

"Somebody said he saw you reading it; and I've 
come to get it." 

With that the soldier proceeded to pull off his coat, 
preliminary to a figlit. The old fellow smiled, and 
checked the proceeding by saying, — 



92 boys' life of general grant. 

" I'm General Taylor, my man ; and I hope you 
don't think I would steal your book." 

"Excuse me, General," said the soldier, as he pulled 
his coat into place again ; '• I don't suppose a gen- 
eral would steal books or anj^thing else. I didn't 
take you for a general, seeing you don't have any 
brass-mounted clothes on. I'll know better when I 
get to learn the ropes." 

The general enjoyed the joke, and used to tell it 
with much gusto. 

During the presidential campaign in which Gen- 
eral Taylor was the candidate of the Whig party, the 
affidavit of an Ohio volunteer was published by the 
Democrats to the effect that while at Camargo Gen- 
eral Taylor had said that the Ohio volunteers weie 
a set of cowards and would run from the enemy. 
The story had the faintest shadow of a foundation, 
which is not always the case with campaign yarns 
about candidates. The circumstances were these : — 

General Taylor saw a soldier seize a chicken, and 
ordered him to drop it. Tlie man pretended to do so, 
but passed the chicken behind him, and into the hands 
of a comrade. Thereupon Taylor thundered out: — 

" Drop that chicken ! Any man who would steal 
is a coward, and would run from the enemy." 

Grant was near Taylor at the time, and witnessed 
the whole affair. When the campaign story came 



A CAMPAIGN STORY. 93 

out, Grant publicly denied it, gave the facts in the 
case, and hinted that the soldier who signed the af- 
fidavit was probably the one who tried to steal the 
chicken. An investigation of the origin of the story 
showed that this was actually the case. 



94 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The battle of Monterey. — Strength and organization of the army. — 
Defenses of the city. — Bishop's palace. — Black Fort. — Movements 
of Worth's Division. — Capture of the Saltillo Road, — Advance 
into the city. — Grant goes for ammunition.— A perilous ride. — General 
Arapudia surrenders. — Hoffman's verses on " ]Monterey." — Men who 
became famous. — Characteristics of General Taylor. — His hatred of 
uniform. — An amusing incident. — An armistice. —Scott's plans for 
the war. — Grant goes to Vera Cruz. — Battle of Buena Vista. 

On the 19th of September, General Taylor's army 
was at Walnut Springs, within three miles of Mon- 
terey. Between Walnut Springs and the city there 
is a broad plain. Close to the city, on this plain, 
there Avas a fort for defending the approach. The 
soldiers gave it the name of Black Fort on account 
of its color. On the north and north-west, the 
city was defended by the Bishop's Palace, a fortress 
of considerable strength; and this fort also covered 
the road to Saltillo on the Avest end of the city. 
The eastern end was defended by some small in- 
trenchments which had been hastily thrown up, and 
an observation showed that they were well manned 
and ready for fighting. In the center of the city 
v\^as the usual plaza or public square ; and this was 
oLrongly defended by artillery, which swept the 



ATTACKING BUENA VISTA. 95 

streets in every direction. General Ampudia was in 
command of the Mexican army, which numbered fully 
ten thousand men. General Taylor's force was about 
sixty-five hundred strong, in three divisions, under 
Generals Twiggs, Butler, and Worth. 

While the - troops were resting and getting in readi- 
ness at Walnut Springs, General Taylor, with the en- 
gineer officers, made a careful reconnaissance. After 
a thorough study of the city, they found that it 
would be possible to get around to the Saltillo Road 
without bringing the troops in range of the forts. 
General Taylor sent General Worth with his divis- 
ion to take possession of the Saltillo Road and the 
works in its vicinity. The rest of the troops were 
drawn up as if to attack the north and east sides of 
the city. General Worth's movement was the real 
attack, and the others were simply to support it. 

General Worth began his movement on the after- 
noon of the 20th of September. He met no opposi- 
tion, and spent the night in a good position on the 
hills north-west of Monterey. During the night, 
General Taylor planned an attack upon the Black 
Fort. A battery was placed on the crest of the 
ridge near it, and the Fourth Infantr}^ was standing 
just below the ridge to support the battery in case 
of assault. 

Lieutenant Grant was left at Walnut Springs in 



96 liOYS' LIFE OF GENERAL GIIANT. 

charge of the regimental property ; but when the 
fight began in the morning, he mounted his horse, 
and joined his regiment. Just as he reached it, the 
order was given to charge. He had no business in 
the charge, as he was at that time quartermaster, and 
quartermasters are not supposed to fight. But he 
hadn't the moral courage to stay behind, and so he 
cliarged with the rest. About one third of the men 
engaged in the movement were wounded or killed in 
less than twenty minutes, and then the order tu 
retreat was given. 

The movement of General Worth on the north, 
and also the advance on the east of the town, were 
successful, to the extent that by the end of the da\' 
(the 21st) the Bishop's Palace had been taken, and 
Monterey was completely invested b}^ the Americans. 
Very little was done on the 22d. On the other 
side of the city during the niglit of the 21st, Black 
Fort and the other batteries Avere captured, and the 
east end of Monterey was indisputably in American 
hands. 

The Third and Fourth regiments of infantry made 
an advance into the city, and suffered heavy losses, 
the most of them caused by the firing of the soldiers 
from the liouse-tops. When they were within a 
block or two of tlie plaza, they came to a halt, 
where they sheltered themselves as much as possible 




Battle of Buena Vista, 1847. 



grant's dangerous ride. 97 

against the houses, and watched for Mexican heads 
rising above the sand-bags. AVhenever a head was 
shown, it was sure to bring a volley of shots from 
the Americans. 

In making their progress towards the plaza, the 
infantry used up most of their ammunition; and Col- 
onel Garland, who commanded the advance, wished 
to send a messenger to General Taylor asking for a 
fresh supply. As the mission was a very dangerous 
one, he did not like to order any one to carry the 
messag-e, and therefore called for a volunteer. Lieu- 
tenant Grant at once said he would go, and his offer 
was accepted. 

Grant fully realized the dangerous ride he was 
about to make. He adjusted himself on the side of 
the horse farthest away from the enemy; and with 
one foot clinging to the cantel of the saddle, and one 
arm around the neck of the horse, he started on a 
full run. He was fired at many times, and a shell 
exploded close to him ; but he finished his ride with- 
out injury either to himself or the horse. Before 
the ammunition could be brought up, the regiments 
for which it was intended had been forced to retire ; 
and fortunately their losses were much less when 
coming out than in going in. 

While this was going on at the eastern side of the 
city. General Worth with a small division of troops 



98 boys' life of general grant. 

was making his way to the plaza on the other side. 
Instead of marching through the streets, he adopted 
the plan of cutting his way through the houses. He 
had very little loss of life, and did not stop opera- 
tions during the night. In the morning, lie was so 
near the plaza that General Ampudia realized the 
hopelessness of further defense, and proposed terms 
of surrender. Fighting ceased at once; and the sur- 
render was soon arranged, the troops being paroled 
and allowed to take away their personal property. 

Shortly after the capture of Monterey, the fol- 
lowing verses were written by Charles Fenno Hoff- 
man. They were very popular at the time of their 
publication, and a great favorite of General Grant. 
They found their way into the school-readers of that 
period; and many a gray -haired man of the present 
time has used these verses as a recitation piece in 
his schoolboy days. 

"We were not many — we who stood 
Before the iron sleet that day ; 
Yet many a gallant spirit would 
Give half his years if he but could 
Have been with us at Monterey. 

Now here, now there, the shot it hailed 

In deadly drifts of fiery spray ; 
Yet not a single soldier quailed 
When wounded comrades round them wailed 

Their dying shouts at Monterey. 



a 



MONTEREY. 



99 



And on, still on, our columns kept, 

Through walls of flame, its withering way ; 

Where fell the dead, the living stept, 

Still charging on the guns that swept 
The slippery streets of Monterey. 

The foe himself recoiled aghast 

When, striking where he strongest lay, 
We swooped his flanking batteries past, 
•And, braving full their murderous blast. 
Stormed home the towers of Monterey. 

Our banners on those turrents wave, 

And there our evening bugles play, 
Where orange-boughs above their grave 
Keep green the memory of the brave 

Who fought and fell at Monterey. 

We were not many — we who pressed 

Beside the brave who fell that day ; 
But who of us hath not confessed 
He'd rather share their warrior rest 

Than not have been at Monterey?" 

The American loss during the battle was one hun- 
dred and t^Yenty killed, and three hundred and sixty- 
eight wounded. By far the greater part of the loss 
was the result of injudicious attacks upon strong po- 
sitions. 

In the battle of Monterey there was a consider- 
able number of officers in addition to Lieutenant 
Grant who became generals on one side or the other 
during the Civil War. One of them was Lieut. 
Georo-e G. Meade, who afterwards commanded the 



100 boys' life of general grant. 

National Army at Gettysburg. He was in General 
Worth's command, and made the reconnaissance of 
the Saltillo Road on the night of the 20th of Sep- 
tember. Col. Jefferson Davis, who became President 
of the Southern Confederacy, was at Montere}^ in com- 
mand of the First Mississippi Rifles ; Major Mansfield, 
who was a general during the War of the Rebellion, 
was in General Worth's division at Monterey ; and 
there were also engaged in the battle Lieutenant- 
Colonel Garland and Colonel Quitman, both of whom 
became generals in the Confederacy. 

General Taylor is described as a man of great abil- 
ity and strength of character, and he was beloved 
and admired by all who served under him. Every 
move which he made was carefully considered before- 
hand, and he never subjected his men to needless ex- 
posure. He was modest and unassuming in manner, 
and had a great aversion to wearing a uniform ; in 
fact, he never put it on except at a review or some 
other occasion when it was considered indispensable. 
He w^ent about camp in the ordinary dress of a far- 
mer. But he w^as known by sight to all the soldiers, 
and invariably returned their salutes. 

Some interesting stories are told concerning his 
avoidance of uniform, and among them is the follow- 
ing : — 

While General Taylor was at Matamoras, previous 



"DON PATRICIO MILMO." . 101 

to the advance into Mexico, he received notice 
that the flag-officer of the fleet at the mouth of the 
river would pay him a visit on a certain day. When 
the time came for the visit, Taylor reluctantly donned 
his uniform. He knew that the officers of tlie 
navy Avere accustomed to wear their uniforms on 
every possible occasion, and therefore argued with 
himself that the flag-officer would be di-essed in all 
the fine clothes he could put on. It haj^pened, how- 
ever, that the flag-officer, having heard of Taylor's 
dislike for uniform, came in civilian dress. The inter- 
view was, of course, very embarrassing to both of them, 
and the conversation consisted chiefly of apologies. 

After the surrender of Monterey, a cessation of 
hostilities w^as arranged between the Mexican and 
American commanders to continue for eight weeks. 
During that time, and afterwards, tlie army lay idle 
in Monterey; and the officers cultivated the acquain- 
tance of the people, with whom they fraternized in 
the most friendly way. Some of the soldiers liked 
Monterey so well, that when the war was over they 
returned and settled there. Among them was an 
Irishman, who became a permanent citizen of Mon- 
terey, married one of its fair residents, and accumu- 
lated a large fortune. His name when he went 
there to live was Patrick Mullen ; but as he pros- 
pered and grew wealthy it was changed to Don Pa- 
tricio Milmo. 



102 boys' life of general grant. 

The Government promised General Scott all the 
troops, supplies, ammunition, and other war material 
that he wanted ; and he had authority to take from 
General Taylor whatever troops then with the latter 
that he might desire. He proceeded at once to Mexico, 
going first to the Rio Grande, where he • hoped to 
meet General Taylor, and discuss with him the meas- 
ures to be taken for the conquest of Mexico. Fail- 
ing to meet General Taylor, who was then absent 
on an expedition to Tampico, General Scott was 
compelled to make his own selection from Taylor's 
forces, instead of leaving it to General Taylor himself. 

Among the troops which General Scott designated 
to be sent to Vera Cruz was the Fourth Infantry, 
and of course Lieutenant Grant went with it. The 
landing was made inside of a small island, about 
three miles south of Vera Cruz. It was impossible 
for the ships to go near the shore, and so everything 
had to be landed in surf-boats. It was much easier 
to land the troops than the stores, as the men jumped 
out of the boats and waded ashore ; while every- 
thing that would be injured by salt water required 
to be handled carefully. Vera Cruz was then a 
walled city, but its walls were not very strong ; they 
were entirely removed in 1880 to allow the expan- 
sion of the city, and also because of their useless- 
ness against modern artillery. The invading army 



CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ. lOB 

proceeded to invest the city, placing batteries all 
around it; and when everything was ready, they 
began their attack. 

By the 27th of March they had made a consid- 
erable breach in the wall surrounding it, and were 
preparing to make an assault; thereupon General 
Morales, who commanded the city and the fort San 
Juan d'UUoa, opened a correspondence with General 
Scott, which resulted in the surrender of five thou- 
sand prisonei^, and the capture of four hundred pieces 
of artillery, and a great quantity of small arms, am- 
munition, and military stores. The loss of the 
Americans during the siege amounted altogether to 
sixty-four officers and men killed and wounded. 

We will leave General Scott to prepare for his 
march into the interior of Mexico, and go back tem- 
porarily to Monterey and General Taylor. 

Failing to meet Taylor at the Rio Grande, Gen- 
eral Scott sent to the latter his plan of operation ; 
the courier who carried the letter was captured, and 
the letter fell into Mexican hands. General Santa 
Anna thus learned what line Scott intended to fol- 
low, and furthermore, that he would take away about 
five thousand of Taylor's troops, including all the 
regulars. On learning this, Santa Anna determined 
to strike his enemies in detail ; first he Avould de- 
stroy Taylor's army, and then proceed to attack and 
destroy Scott. 



104 boys' life of general grant. 

lu Febriiaiy, 1847, General Santa Anna, with nearl}' 
twenty thousand men, marched upon Taylor, who 
had taken a strong position in a mountain-pass at 
Buena Vista, to the south of Monterey ; Santa Anna 
sent a flag of truce demanding Taylor's surrender 
within one hour, and received the historic reply, " Gen- 
eral Taylor never surrenders!" Early next morning 
the Mexicans advanced, and the battle became des- 
perate ; twenty thousand Mexicans against four thou- 
sand Americans, all of the latter being volunteers, 
of whom very few had been under fire. 

The battle was hard fought, and on more than 
one occasion it seemed as though victory was about 
to perch on the Mexican banners. At one critical 
moment General Taylor was standing near the bat- 
tery of Captain Bragg; the Mexicans charged upon 
it, and Bragg loaded his guns with grapeshot, which 
he poured into the Mexicans when they were within 
twenty feet of the muzzle of the cannon. The ter- 
rible fire checked them; and as it did so General 
Taylor called out, "Give them a little more grape, 
Captain Bragg ! " 

This phrase became historic, and soon was widely 
known throughout the country. It was often quoted 
as an indication of the coolness under exciting cir- 
cumstances of '' Old Rough and Ready," as General 
Taylor was called. 



BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 105 

Captain Bragg's grape turned the tide of battle. 
The enemy broke and fled, though fighting contin- 
ued in several parts of the field until night. The 
Americans bivouacked on the field, and expected to 
renew the fight next morning; but under cover of 
the darkness Santa Anna retired. 

The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded 
was nine hundred and forty-six, while the Mexicans 
lost about two thousand. The sanguinary nature of 
the battle can be realized by observing that the 
American loss was almost one-fifth of the whole num- 
ber engaged. 

On the night after the battle, while the troops 
were anxiously waiting for the morrow. General Tay- 
lor sent for his division commanders, in order to have 
a consultation. General Worth was the first to 
arrive, and was evidently very anxious as to the 
result. " Do you think we can whip them ? " was 
his first question, after the ceremony of hand-shaking 
was over. 

''Whip them ! " exclaimed Taylor; "we haven't 
begun to fight yet. If we all hang together, we'll 
whip them out of their boots." 

"Well," answered Worth, greatly encouraged by 
the words of his chief, " we'll hang together, of 
course, until we do whip them ; and if they whip 
us, we'll probably hang together all the same." 



106 boys' life of general grant. 

During the battle, owing to a mistake in the de- 
livery of an order, the Second Indiana Infantry left 
the field and marched to the rear, but immediately 
returned to the fighting as soon as the mistake be- 
came known. Tliis gave rise to many slanders upon 
the regiment, and caused much indignation among 
its officers and men. In 1861, when the Second In- 
diana Infantry was organized for the War of the 
Rebellion, it was drawn up in line in front of the 
State House at Indianapolis to receive its colors. 
Its colonel (afterwards major-general), Lew Wallace, 
ordered the men to kneel as the colors were pre- 
sented, and swear a solemn oath to wipe out the 
stigma that rested on their regimental name. 

The oath was taken amid the most profound si- 
lence on the part of the assembled multitude ; and 
then as the regiment lose and marched away the 
cheering was long and loud. Nobly did the regi- 
ment redeem its name ; none showed greater bra- 
very or bore itself more grandly in the many battles 
in which it was engaged than the Second Indiana 
Infantry. General Wallace served as a lieutenant of 
the First Indiana Infantry during the Mexican War, 
and was with his regiment at the battle of Buena 
Vista. 



MARCH FKOM VERA CRUZ. 107 



CHAPTER VIII. 

March from Vera Cruz. — Meeting the enemy. — Battle of Cerro Gordo. 

— Scott's plan of battle. — " Always obey your superior officer." — 
Advance to Perote and Puebla. — A long wait for reinforcements.— 
Advance into the valley of Mexico. — Battles of Contreras and Chur- 
ubusco. — Attack upon the city. — Grant's exploit at Molino del Rey. 

— In a church belfry with a howitzer. — Grant's memory. — Capture 
of the city. — Declaration of peace. 

After capturing Vera Cruz, General Scott began 
his preparations for the march to tlie City of Mexico. 
Twelve thousand was a very small army with which 
to invade a country with a population of eight or 
nine millions, which was to be penetrated two hun- 
dred and sixty miles from the sea. At the end of 
that distance the capital city with a population of 
one hundred thousand was to be besieged and cap- 
tured. Scott's army was in three divisions, under 
Generals Twiggs, Patterson, and Worth. Twiggs's 
division got away on the 8th of April, Patterson's 
followed on the 10th, and Worth's, in which was the 
Fourth Infantry, left Vera Cruz on the 13th. Twiggs's 
division ran against the enemy at Cerro Gordo, fifty 
miles west of Vera Cruz ; and as soon as they ascer- 
tained the whereabouts of the Mexicans, the divis- 



108 boys' lifp: of general giiant. 

ion went into camp, and waited fur the others to 
come up. General Scott was still at Vera Cruz, 
awaiting the departure of the last division ; but im- 
mediately on hearing of the position of the Mexicans, 
he hurried forward and began his preparations for 
capturing Santa Anna and his army. 

It is said there was not a battle in the Mexican 
War, and very few battles in any war, where the 
orders issued before the engagement were so nearly 
a correct report of what took place. The time for 
each movement had been calculated very closely, and 
in many instances to the very minute. Divisions and 
brigades moved in different directions, and came to- 
gether at the exact times and places designed by 
the commander-in-chief. The engineers had led the 
way, and the troops followed ; in some places the 
slope was so steep that the artillery was let down 
by hand by means of ropes on one side of the chasm, 
and drawn by hand up the other side. In this way 
the troops reached their assigned positions in the 
rear of the enemy's intrenchments quite unobserved. 
When the signal was given and the advance was 
made, the Mexicans surrendered. There was some 
lighting on other parts of the field, in which there were 
losses on both sides. Three thousand prisoners were 
taken, and a large amount of military stores. The 
Americans lost in killed and wounded four hundred 



OBEYING ORDERS. 109 

thirty-one officers and men. General Santa Anna 
escaped on the back of a mule. His carriage and 
personal baggage were captured, but were returned by 
General Scott. 

After the oi'ders for the battle had been issued, 
the colonel of a volunteer regiment came to Gen- 
eral Scott to complain of the part that had been as- 
signed to him in the coming affair. '^The order I 
have received," said he, "is absurd, and will render 
my regiment liable to be annihilated. I come to you, 
General Scott, as the commander-in-chief, to know 
Avhat I sliall do about obeying it." 

"Always obey your superior officer," replied the 
general. 

"But look at this order. General, and see where 
it will put me." 

General Scott scanned the paper; and as he re- 
turned it to the colonel, he remarked,— 

"That is all right; obey your superior officer al- 
ways." 

" But suppose he orders me to jump out of a fourth- 
story window; shall I do it?" 

"Certainly," responded the general; ''do it Avith- 
out hesitation. He will have made preparations for 
catching you when you reach the ground." 

Shortly after this battle the army advanced to 
Jalapa, and then to Perote and Puebla, where Gen- 



110 > boys' life of general grant. 

eral Scott waited from May until August for rein- 
forcements, which were slow in arriving. When they 
came, the army advanced over the Rio Frio Moun- 
tain, the highest point on the road being about 
11,000 feet above sea-level. From this mountain the 
soldiers looked down on the great basin, or valley, 
in which the city of ^Mexico stands. Between the 
foot of the mountain and the capital city, there are 
three lakes ; and between two of them, there is a 
narrow strip of land over wdiich the road to the 
city runs. 

General Garland's brigade of Worth's division, the 
brigade to which the Fourth Infantry was attached, 
was sent to San Antonio, near the village of Churu- 
busco, on the road to Mexico, and ten or twelve 
miles from it. During the day and night of Aug. 
19, the engineer officers completed roads by which 
the American troops Avere got around to the north 
and west of the Mexican positions. One of the 
strongest of these positions was at Contreras, a forti- 
fied hill; and operations were directed towards that 
point. Garland's brigade was kept in position at 
San Antonio, while the attack was made on Contre- 
ras on the morning of the 20th. Half an hour after 
the order to advance was given, Contreras was in the 
hands of the Americans, with all its artillery and 
military supplies; and when this point was secured, 



Moj.iNo dp:l hey. Ill 

or-lers came for Garlaiicrs brigade to advance upon 
San Antonio and Churubusco. The advance upon 
San Antonio was practically unopposed, as the Mexi- 
cans fled when they saw that Contreras was lost to 
them. 

Somewhat contrary to General Scott's expectation, 
the Mexicans made a stand at Churubusco; they 
held their position and did some hard fighting, so 
that the American troops, and especially General 
Shields's brigade, suffered heavily. Some of the gun- 
ners who stood their ground to tlie very last were 
deserters from General Taylor's army in Northern 
Mexico. 

A truce was agreed upon ; and it lasted until Sept. 
4, when hostilities were resumed. General Scott was 
then with Worth's division, which Avas occupying 
Tacubuya, about four miles south-west of the city. 
Not far from it was Molino del Rey (^' Mill of the 
King "), a long stone building, one story higli, and 
used as a storehouse for grain. Nearer to the city 
is Chapultepec, a long mound about three hundred 
feet high, which was fortified on the top and on 
both sides. From Chapultepec to the city there is a 
stone aqueduct built on arches, that supplies water 
to the capital ; and there is a similar aqueduct 
which receives its water from a mountain stream 
close to Molino del Rey. One aqueduct enters the 



112 boys' life of general gkant. 

city by the San Cosme gate, and the other by the 
Belem gate. There were strong fortifications at both 
the gates, wliile at intervals along the aqueduct 
parapets had been thrown up to facilitate the defense 
of tlie cit3^ 

Naturally the first point of attack was Molino del 
Rey ; and the assault upon it was made on the morn- 
ing of the 8th of September. When the troops were 
drawn i\p, and everything was in readiness, a single 
charge was made, and the enemy, after firing a few 
shots, broke and ran towards Chapultepec. Lieuten- 
ant Grant was one of the first to enter the mill. As 
he was watching the fleeing enemy, he happened to 
look up, and noticed that there were still many of 
them on the top of the building. He gathered some 
of the soldiers of his command, and ordered an 
emptj^ cart turned up against the side of the mill. 
This cart he used as a ladder to climb up to the 
roof. 

When he got there he found that a private soldier 
had got in ahead of him, and captured the whole 
party, including a major and five or six officers of 
lower grades. All the Mexicans still had their Aveap- 
ons with them. While the one American soldier was 
guarding them, he told Lieutenant Grant that he 
had '' surrounded them all by himself." The Lieu- 
tenant immediately received the swords of the com- 



BATTLE OF THE ARCHES. 113 

missioned officers, and, with the aid of the soldiers 
wlio accompanied him, broke up all the muskets by 
striking them over the edge of the wall. 

There is no doubt that if the capture of Molino 
del Rey had been followed up by an attack on Cha- 
pultepec, and the San Cosme and Belem gates, the 
city could have been taken with ease ; but such was 
not the case, and consequently there was more loss 
of life in taking these positions several days after. 

The bombardment of Chapultepec began on the 
morning of the 12th; aiKl on the 13th the hill was 
stormed and captured. After the fall of Chapultepec 
the advance began along the two aqueduct roads ; 
General Worth commanding the attack on San Cosme, 
and General Quitman that against Belem gate. 
Lieutenant Grant was on the San Cosme road, and 
was present throughout the entire engagement. The 
troops found the arches very useful in making their 
advance ; they went forward an arch at the time, 
halted until they had taken breath, and then got 
ready for another arch. Dodging in this way, they 
got along pretty well, keeping a close watch on the 
intrenchments, and firing at every head that sliowed 
itself above the parapets. The Mexicans fled from 
the parapets as soon as the Americans came within 
shooting distance. 

While reconnoitering the ground at one place, 



114 boys' life of general grant. 

Lieutenant Grant found a cliurch on one si'le of the 
road ; and it occurred to him that the belfry might 
command the ground inside the San Cosme gate. 
He got an officer of the voltigeurs with a mounted 
liowitzer and the men to work it to go with him 
and his infantry. As the enemy had possession of 
the road, they were compelled to go around through 
the fields, which obliged them to cross several ditches 
breast high with water. They got to the church, 
however, and were met by the priest, who told them 
they could not enter. They explained to him that he 
might save property by opening the door, and said 
that they would go in whether he would admit them 
or not. Finally he opened the door ; and they 
mounted to the belfry with the howitzer, which they 
hastily put together, it having been taken in pieces 
in order to carry it. Then they opened fire on the 
troops inside the San Cosme gate, and created a 
great confusion. 

General Worth observed the effect of the howitzer, 
and was so pleased with it that he sent one of the 
staff, Lieutenant Pemberton (who was afterwards a 
lieutenant-general in the Confederacy), to bring Lieu- 
tenant Grant to him. He said the howitzer in the 
clitirch steeple was doing great service, and ordered 
a captain of voltigeurs to report to Grant with 
another howitzer for a similar service. The fact is, 



THE HOWITZER IN THE BELFRY. 115 

there was not room enough in the steeple for 
another gun ; but etiquette forbade the young lieu- 
tenant to say so to liis superior officer. He saluted 
and took the captain, but did not use the howitzer. 

Eighteen 3'ears afterwards, when General Grant was 
commander-in-chief of the armies engaged in crush- 
ing the Rebellion, and was actively pushing in the 
direction of Richmond, the colonel of a Pennsylva- 
nia regiment came to him one day to make a report 
which had to be made in person. When his duty had 
been performed, he saluted, and was about to retire, 
when the general said, — 

" Colonel, haven't I met you before ? " 

"Yes, General," was the reply; "and I think 
you'll remember the incident. I was the sergeant 
with the howitzer that you took into the belfry of 
a church near the San Cosme gate of the city of 
Mexico." 

" We shook the Mexicans up very lively, didn't 
we ? " said the general as he seized the colonel's 
hand and shook it warmly. Then he added, "Take 
a chair." 

The colonel obeyed, and for half an hour and more 
the conversation was wholly devoted to the Mexican 
War. 

By the evening of the 13th, the American troops 
were close to the walls of the citv at the San Cosme 



lit) BOVS' LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

and Beleii gates ; in the morning it was found that 
Santa Anna and his army had left the city, and the 
gates were undefended. The army entered the gates 
amid loud cheering, and the capital of the Republic 
of Mexico was in the hands of the invaders. The 
convicts in the prisons had been released, and there 
was a considerable number of deserters remaining in 
the city ; when our troops entered they were fired 
upon by these fellows, and possibly by some of the 
citizens. Several of our officers and soldiers Avere 
struck by the bullets, some of them fatally. Among 
the latter was Lieutenant Smith of the Fourth Infan- 
try, who died a few days later ; and in consequence 
of his death second Lieutenant Grant was promoted 
to the grade of first lieutenant. 

That promotion is slow in the army is illustrated 
by the experience of the hero of our story. He was 
commissioned a • second lieutenant in the army in 
1843 ; he entered the city of Mexico four years later 
with the same rank, after being in all the battles 
which were possible for one man during that war. 
His regiment had lost heavily in commissioned offi- 
cers, but it was not until the death of Lieutenant 
Smith that he rose to the rank of first lieutenant. 

General Scott followed the troops into the city, 
and, according to his custom, made as much display 
as possible. He was in full uniform, wearing evevj- 



ENTERIKG THE CITY OF MEXICO. 117 

thing " that the law allowed ; " and he required his 
officers to follow his example. Scott's habits in re- 
gard to uniform were just the reverse of those of 
General Taylor, who, as before stated, disliked wear- 
ing any uniform whatever. In consequence of their 
different peculiarities, General Scott received the 
soubriquet of '* Old Fuss and Feathers," while Gen- 
eral Taylor was known as "Old Rough and Ready." 
It was a wonder that General Scott, with his tall, 
commanding figure, was not fii-ed upon as he entered 
the city. He made a grand parade through the prin- 
cipal streets, and then took possession of the famous 
building known as "The Halls of the Montezumas." 
After the capture of the city of Mexico, General 
Scott issued orders for the government of the con- 
quered city, in terms which assured the inhabitants 
that they were not to be despoiled of their property. 
Everything that was taken for the army or for in- 
dividuals was paid for, and no marauding of an}^ 
kind was allowed. Taxes were levied upon the cities 
and states of Mexico for supporting the army, and 
duties were collected on all imports at the ports 
opened for trade. The principal cities of Mexico 
were occupied by the American troops ; and this state 
of affairs continued until peace was arranged in Feb- 
ruary, 1848, and the army retired from Mexico. The 
terms of peace were that the Rio Grande should be 



118 JiOVS' LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

the bouudaiy between the two countries ; the dis- 
puted territory between the Rio Grande and the 
Nueces was ceded to Texas, and the whole of New 
Mexico and Upper California became the property 
of tlie United States. In return for this addition to 
its territory, the United States paid to Mexico the 
sum of fifteen millions of dollars. 

While the army Avaited for the settlement of the 
terms of peace. Lieutenant Grant went with some 
other officers to visit Popocatepetl, the great volcano 
of Mexico. Owing to a severe storm, he did not 
succeed in reaching the summit. In writing of this 
trip, he said that one of the most interesting inci- 
dents was the experiences of a mule that fell from 
a path cut in the mountain on one side of a deep 
and narrow valley. The animal was carrying two 
sacks of barley, and mule and load rolled over and 
over again to the rocks at the bottom of the val- 
ley. All supposed that the poor beast had been 
dashed to death. Imagine their surprise when the 
mule subsequently overtook them with its load, and 
neither of them much the worse for the long roll 
down the side of the mountain. 



GRANT AGAIN PROMOTED. 119 



CHAPTER IX. 

Promoted again. — Favorably mentioned in several reports. — General 
Scott's rattlesnake story. — Grant returns to the United States. — 
Robbed on the way. — Marries Miss Dent. — On duty at Sackett's 
Harbor and Detroit. —The first baby. — "The Cicotte mare." — 
Quarrel with Zachary Chandler. — Dog-fight on Grosse Isle. — A Son 
of Temperance and an Odd Fellow. — Second son born. — Mrs. Grant 
returns to St. Louis. 

Not long after the capture of the city of Mexico, 
Lieutenant Grant was promoted to a brevet captaincy, 
dating from the day of the entry into the city. His 
conduct had received favorable mention in the offi- 
cial report of General Worth, and his action of pla- 
cing the howitzer in the belfry of the church was 
referred to in the reports of Major Lee and Colonel 
Garland. The latter spoke of him as " acquitting him- 
self most nobly on several occasions under my ob- 
servation." Capt. Horace Brooks of the artillery 
gave him credit for helping to carry a strong field- 
work, and turn the enemy's right after an obstinate 
resistance. The various reports in his favor showed 
the promotion to be well-deserved. 

The commander-in-chief invited all the general of- 
ficers of his army to meet him at dinner one even- 
ing about two weeks after the fall of the capital 



120 boys' life of general grant. 

of Mexico. Generals Pillow and Worth declined the 
invitation in consequence of their personal hostility 
to General Scott; but all the others accepted. In 
his briefly spoken words of welcome, General Scott 
acknowledged the efficient services of his guests in 
securing the success of the campaign, and said that 
there were few instances in history where an army 
had successfully prosecuted an aggressive campaign 
into a hostile country, opposed constantly by a force 
double its own strength. Other words of congratu- 
lation followed from the lips of the hero, and his 
was the only formal speech of the evening. 

Conversation and story-telling occupied the greater 
part of the time ; and during the course of the din- 
ner General Twiggs asked General Scott to tell his 
rattlesnake stor}^ The general smiled, and nodded 
assent. He said he had told the story many times 
before, and was afraid that it might not be new to 
some of the gentlemen present ; but since it had been 
called for by General Twiggs, he would tell it; and 
he did tell it, with emphasis. 

'' During the Florida campaign," said General Scott, 
*' I was one night quartered in a rough building 
that stood upon posts that raised it two feet or more 
from the ground. The floor was open in many 
places ; and we had scarcely made preparations for a 
])ivouac, before the sound of rattling from below 



GENERAL SCOTT'S RATTLESNAKE STORY. 121 

told us that many rattlesnakes were there. We sur- 
veyed them with a light, and found there was a 
goodly battalion of them. I went out and measur- 
ed with my eye the height of the floor from the 
ground, and saw at once that it was beyond reach 
by about two inches of the tallest rattlesnake ever 
known. I knew, as a boy, from experiments, that the 
rattlesnake never jumped or darted, only stood up 
as high as he could, and bit. I returned and told 
the officers that it was perfectly safe to sleep on 
the floor, and I intended to do it. But they left me 
alone in my glory, with my martial cloak around me, 
— a temporary Sir John Moore, — while they camped 
outside. Indeed, I rather enjoyed the discomfiture of 
the snakes as they rattled me to sleep and vainly 
tried to reach the holes in the floor." 

After the Mexican War the State of Louisiana 
gave swords of honor to Generals Scott, Taylor, and 
Twiggs, the scabbard of each sword bearing an in- 
scription appropriate to the deeds of its recipient. 
The gentleman who designed the inscription for Gen- 
eral Scott's sword happened to meet that officer one 
day in a jewelry store in New York, and made bold 
to introduce himself, and tell what lie had done. He 
added that he would be pleased to know how the 
design met the views of the general as a work of 
art, 



122 boys' life of general grant. 

The general assumed an air of majestic dignity, 
and said, — 

" Admirable sir, admirable. But there was a slight 
mistake, sir, a slight mistake." 

"Indeed! and what was that?'' 

"The inscription, sir. The inscription should have 
been on the blade, sir. On the blade, sir; not on 
the scabbard. The scabbard may be taken from us ; 
the blade — never / " 

Several years after the close of the War of 1812, 
Congress voted a gold medal to General Scott. The 
general placed it for safe keeping in the vault of 
a bank, which was afterwards robbed by an expert 
burglar, who left nothing of value except the medal. 
The burglar was captured, and during his trial he 
said, — 

" I examined that medal with my lantern, and well 
knew its value ; but I scorned to take from the sol- 
dier what had been given him by the gratitude of 
his country." 

During the time the American troops remained in 
Mexico after the cessation of hostilities, Grant con- 
tinued to act as quartermaster. The tradition is that 
he showed great ability in the discharge of his duties. 
He never failed to keep his regiment well fed. 
When the army was making the hardest of marches, 
there was always fresh beef waiting for his regi- 



grant's MEXICAN HOliSE. 123 

raent when it went into camp. He was famous al- 
ways for his good horsemanship; and he had a very 
spirited horse that no one else could ride. 

One day a Mexican gentleman whom he knew very 
well asked permission to ride his horse; but Grant 
hesitated to permit him, fearing an accident might 
happen. He knew that the Mexican wa& a fair rider, 
but not a first-class one ; and he also knew that it 
would be a great affront to him to be refused. So 
the captain consented, but very unwillingly. The 
Mexican mounted the animal ; but before he had gone 
more than a block or two he was thrown from the 
saddle, and instantly killed. 

On another day. Grant went to see Colonel How- 
ard, who commanded the castle of Chapuitepec. He 
rode up the outside slope of the fortification, and 
then went two or three times around the castle. 
Finding no place to hitch his horse, he rode the ani- 
mal down the long and steep stone stairs that led 
into the fort. There he tied the steed, and made his 
call upon the officer. 

When he came away Colonel Howard came out to 
the entrance with him ; and seeing the horse stand- 
ing there, he said to Grant, — 

" Lieutenant, how did you manage to get that 
horse inside?" 

" I rode him in, sir," was the repty. 



124 boys' life of general grant. 

"Well!" said the colonel in a tone of astonish- 
ment; "how are you to get him out?" 

" Why, ride him out, of course." said Grant, as he 
sprang upon the horse and turned him in the di- 
rection of the stone steps. The animal went rapidly 
up the steps; and when Grant reached the top he 
waved his hat to the colonel, and disappeared over 
the breastworks. 

While the army was on the marcli back to Vera 
Cruz, Lieutenant Grant met with a misfortune. He 
had about one thousand dollars of Government 
money in his truidv. The lock became broken, and 
he put the money in the trunk of a fellow officer. 
One niglit this trunk was broken open and all the 
money it contained abstracted. 

The lieutenant reported the loss with an affidavit 
as to how it happened, and supported it by the affi- 
davits of several other officers. A bill was placed 
before Congress for his relief, and it remained there 
twelve years. In 1862, when Grant had captured 
Fort Donelson and became a major-general. Congress 
passed the bill which provided that one thousand 
dollars should be allowed to Lieutenant Grant in the 
settlement of his accounts as regimental quartermas- 
ter of the Fourth Infantry. Even then the bill was 
not passed unanimously, no fewer than eight sena- 
tors voting against it, and only a minority of them 
were Democrats, 



GRANT MARRIES MISS DENT. 125 

On leaving Mexico the Fourth Infantry went to 
Pascagoula, Miss., where it was to remain during the 
summer. Grant obtained leave for four months' 
absence. He went first to St. Louis to see Miss 
Dent, and renew his protestations of devotion. Per- 
haps they did not need any verbal renewal, as the 
two had corresponded frequently during his absence, 
but he "went there all the same." 

A few days after his arrival, he was married to 
the lady, and they spent their honeymoon in visiting 
his parents and relatives in Ohio. During Grant's 
absence on leave, his regiment moved to Sackett's 
Harbor, N.Y. ; and when the time of his leave had 
expired he rejoined his company at that point. It 
was a time of peace, and nothing of importance oc- 
curred there. 

In the following spring the regiment was ordered 
to Detroit, Mich. ; and there Grant spent two years 
in the liumdrum existence of a military barrack in 
time of peace, or, to be more exact about it, he spent 
there all the time when he was on duty. All the 
married officers lived outside ; and Lieutenant and 
Mrs. Grant began their first experience of house- 
keeping at Detroit. He paid two hundred and fifty 
dollars for house-rent, which was considered a high 
price when the building and all the circumstances 
connected with it were considered. There was a 



126 boys' life of general grant. 

great deal of visiting among the officers and their 
families, and also among neighbors and friends. The 
evenings were largely devoted to social calls and 
games of dominoes, chess, and other simple amuse- 
ments. Occasionally there was a visit to the theatre; 
but at that time the dramatic attractions of Detroit 
were not of the highest class, and traveling com- 
panies were by no means as numerous as they are 
at present. 

A story used to be told about McKean Buchanan, 
an actor of Cincinnati who went to Detroit, San- 
dusky, and other lake cities, on what is called a star- 
ring tour; his support in each place being the local 
company. His tour was a very short one ; and on 
his return to Cincinnati somebody questioned his 
agent as to the success of the affair. 

"Pretty bad all through," replied the agent; ''and 
the support was awful. We ojjened with Hamlet in 
Sandusky, and the local company was made up of 
canal-boatmen and blacksmiths, the worst actors I 
ever saw. They were worse than ' ^lac ' himself ; 
even he couldn't stand them. He played the first 
act with 'em, and the other four acts alone." 

Another story about McKean Buchanan relates to 
his skill at the American game of cards known as 
" poker." He decided to try his fortune in Califor- 
nia, and asked a theatrical manager of Cincinnati to 



THE FIRST BABY. 127 

give him a letter of introduction to a fellow-manager 
in San Francisco. The letter was promptly given, 
and read as follows : — 

" Dear Sir : — 

This will introduce the actor, Mr. McKean Buchanan. 
He plays Hamlet, Richard III., Henry VIII., Othello, 
Richelieu, Claude Melnotte, The Hunchback, and Poker." 

Early in 1850 the Grants broke up housekeeping. 
Mrs. Grant went back to her father's in St. Louis ; 
and shortly after her going there her first son was 
born. Meantime Lieutenant Grant boarded with Cap- 
tain Gore, another officer of the Fourth Infantry. 

When Mrs. Grant returned, bringing the baby, 
she and her husband remained with the Gores. The 
house where the}^ lived was of a better quality than 
the one they had previously occupied, and was situated 
on Jefferson Avenue, which was at that time the 
principal avenue in the city. The houses along it 
were not very close to each other at that time ; but 
since then a great many fine residences have sprung 
up, and the inhabitants of the locality point with 
pride to their avenue. 

Detroit was at that time the head of a large de- 
partment. Lieutenant Grant was commissary and 
quartermaster of the post where his regiment was 
stationed ; and the department quartermaster was 



128 boys' life of GENEPvAL GKA>'T. 

iMajor Sibley, tlie inventor of tlie Avell-known Sibley 
tent. Grant's duties at his own office were very 
light, the most of them being performed by his ser- 
geant, so that the officer had no occasion to spend 
much time there. He was more frequently to be 
found at the office of Major Sibley; and divided his 
time during the day between the major's head- 
quarters and the sutler's store of the post. The latter 
place was the favorite resort of the army officers, in- 
cluding those on active duty and those who had re- 
tired. There was quite a number of the latter; and 
it is safe to assume that the halls of the building 
resounded with a great many stories of army life, 
and especially of the Mexican War which was so 
recently in everybody's mind. 

Grant's fondness for horses still continued; and 
outside of war he was more interested in stories of 
horse-flesh than of anything else. Grant brought 
from Mexico a large gray horse, which is still re- 
membered by some of the old inhabitants of Detroit, 
and w^as probably the same animal with which he 
rode down and up the steps at Chapultepec. He 
did not by any means confine his riding to this 
horse. He used to ride the French ponies which 
abounded in Detroit at that time, and, in fact, was 
ready to ride any steed that was brought along. 

On one occasion he offered two hundred dollars 



" THE CICOTTE MAEE." 129 

for a mare which belonged to a Mr. Cicotte, on con- 
dition that the animal could pace a mile in two min- 
utes and fifty-five seconds, at the same time drawing 
a buggy containing two men. The offer was ac- 
cepted, and Jefferson Avenue was chosen as the place 
of trial. The horse was harnessed into the buggy, 
arranp-ements were made for '' timing " the speed, and 
Grant and Cicotte stepped into the vehicle. Away 
went the horse,- and the mile was finished inside the 
time agreed upon. Grant became the owner of the 
animal, and kept it for several years. He sent it to 
St. Louis, where it won a race for one thousand dol- 
lars, and was sold soon after for fifteen hundred 
dollars. 

A local amusement of Detroit at that time w^as 
an occasional dog-fight. Grant was not a keeper of 
doo-s, and had no fondness for the sport. One day 
two dogs, belonging to Thomas Lewis and Horace 
Gray, had a very savage encounter on Grosse Isle, 
in the Detroit River. Gray lived on Grosse Isle ; and 
when the fight was going on, he turned to Lewis 
and said, — 

" Either your dog or I must quit this island ! " 

Grant happened to be standing by, and joined in 

the laugh at the remark. Their next meeting was 

during the Civil War, when Grant commanded the 

Army of the Tennessee and Gray was major of a 



130 boys' life of general grant. 

^Michigan regiment. When they met and had shaken 
hands, Grant's first question Avas, — 

'^ Which one of you left the island, Gray ? you or 
the dogr?" 

During a part of his residence in Detroit, Grant 
lived in a house belonging to a Mr. Bacon, and the 
landlord and his tenant became fairly well acquainted. 
When the news of the surrender of Fort Donelson 
was telegraphed over the North, accompanied by the 
" unconditional surrender letter," Mr. Bacon said, — 

'' Seems to me that there was a Captain Grant 
lived in one of my houses ; I wonder if this is the 
same one." 

Then he remembered that Grant wrote his name 
one day on a window-pane with a diamond. He 
went to the house at once, and was greatly rejoiced 
to find that his tenant and the hero of Donelson 
were one and the same. 

Grant was considered one of the mildest mannered 
men in Detroit, and was very unlikely to get into 
a row with anybody. He did have one quarrel, how- 
ever, with Zachary Chandler, who was then a dry- 
goods merchant, and later became United States Sen- 
ator. The cause of the trouble was that Chandler 
did not keep his sidewalk clear of snow and ice, and 
they had a great deal of those articles in Detroit. 
Several of the officers had slipped and fallen on the 



GRANT VS. CHANDLER. 131 

ice in front of Chandler's house ; and one evening 
Avhile Grant was on his way home he was unfor- 
tunate enough to slip and receive a severe sprain. 
Being very angry in consequence of his mishap, he 
swore out a complaint against Cliandler for his fail- 
ure to comply with the city ordinances which re- 
quire the sidewalks to be kept clear. 

The case came to trial, and Chandler insisted upon 
a jury and upon the rig] it of being his own lawyer. 
The witnesses in the case were principally officers 
of the post, and they convinced the jury that the or- 
dinances had been violated flagrantly. During his 
career in the United States Senate, Chandler was famous 
for his power of abusing his opponents, and at this 
trial he assailed the officers so savagely that possibly 
some of them wished they had never testified against 
him. He called them idle loafers who lived upon the 
community, and said that if they would keep sober 
they would not be slipping on other people's side- 
walks. The jury brought in a verdict against Chand- 
ler, but the damages were placed at the moderate 
sum of six cents and costs. The affair created a 
great deal of talk in Detroit, and it was thouglit 
that a personal encounter between Chandler and some 
of the officers might come of it. Nothing happened, 
however; and when fifteen years afterwards Senator 
Chandler entertained General Grant at his home in 



132 boys' life of general grant. 

Detroit, both of them had a hearty laugh over the 
sidewalk incident. 

Early in 1851 the Fourth Infantry was transferred 
from Detroit to Sackett's Harbor, N.Y. Before the 
transfer, Mrs. Grant went to the home of her parents 
in St. Louis with the understanding that she was to 
remain until Grant could provide a suitable home for 
them and send for her. Sackett's Harbor was a much 
smaller place than Detroit, and its population was 
of a somewhat different character. Detroit had quite 
a sprinkling of old French families, while Sackett's 
Harbor had none. It was not far from the spot 
where, in the old French War, about one hundred 
years before. Grant's great-grandfather was killed. 
It was a place of considerable importance in the War 
of 1812, as it was the rendezvous for the American 
fleet on the lake. 

While at Sackett's Harbor, Grant joined the Sons 
of Temperance and also the Odd Fellows. He joined 
the former on account of having observed the drink- 
ing tendency among officers in time of peace ; and 
as to the Odd Fellows, he became a member more to 
kill time than for any other purpose. He attended 
the regular quarterly meetings, but rarely took an 
active part. The stor}- goes that he was once put 
on a committee of three for some purpose ; he dis- 
agreed with the other two, and brought in a minor- 



KAOIN<J ON THE ICE. 133 

ity report. The other two members of the committee 
were leading citizens of the place, and it was thought 
by some to be a little presumptive on the part of 
the army officer to oppose the views of men so dis- 
tinguished locally. But when his report was read, 
it proved to be such an able document that it raised 
him very materially in the estimation of the entire 
lodge. 

Grant as usual showed more, interest in horse-flesh 
than in anything else, though he performed his du- 
ties as quartermaster of the regiment, together with 
all other duties, with promptness and exactness. 
In summer there were horse-races on land, and in 
winter on ice, the latter being rather more popular 
than the former. Grant was a participant in most 
of the races, and a winner quite as often as anybody 
else. A fire-company was organized among the sol- 
diers, and on several occasions it had friendly contests 
with the citizens' fire-company. The fact is, times 
were very dull in the town, and the soldiers as well 
as the officers were ready to accept anything that would 
afford amusement or excitement. 

About the middle of 1852, orders came for the 
Fourth Infantry to proceed to the Pacific coast. The 
journey at that time was much more severe than ft 
is at present; and it was decided that Mrs. Grant 
could not endure the hardship of the journey, and 



184 boys' life of general grant. 

therefore should not accompany her husband to Cali- 
fornia. She was to remain at home with her parents, 
after visiting Jesse Grant and his wife in Ohio. 

During her stay in Ohio Mrs. Grant's second son 
was born, and received the name of Ulysses. When 
tlie cliild was a few months old his mother returned 
to St. Louis. The negroes on Mr. Dent's place named 
the boy " Buckeye," because he was born in Ohio, 
the Buckeye State. This nickname was shortened 
to ''Buck," and adhered to the boy ever afterwards. 



OFF FOR CALIFORNIA. 135 



CHAPTER X. 

Off for California. — Ou the Isthmus. — Difficulties and hardsliips of the 
journey. — Failure of the contractor to keep his agreement. — Over- 
land in the mud. — How Grant acquitted himself. — Arrival at Panama. 
— Embarking on the Golden Gate. — Outbreak of cholera. — Arrival 
at San Francisco. — Expense of living in California. —Grant in Ore- 
gon. —His experience at fanning. —Another promotion. — At Hum- 
boldt Bay. — Resigned and goes home. — Settles down to farming. — 
In the real-estate business. — Moves to Galena, 111. 

There was no Pacific Railway in tliose days, and 
the shortest and quickest route to the Pacific coast 
was by way of the Isthmus. Eight companies of 
the Fourth Infantry assembled at Governor's Island in 
New York Harbor, and on the fifth of July they em- 
barked on board the steamship Ohio. Five officers 
only took their wives and children, all the other 
married officers leaving their families at home. 

The Ohio had already been filled before the ar- 
rangements were made for carrying the regiment, 
and the consequence was that the ship was over- 
crowded. Temporary berths were erected on deck 
for the soldiers ; they were several tiers high, and 
in the event of a storm they would have been terribly 
uncomfortable as well as dangerous. There was so 
much complaint about overcrowding that it was ne- 



136 boys' life of general grant. 

cessaiy to keep a strong guard on duty to prevent 
insubordination. Grant continued to be quartermas- 
ter, and achieved considerable popularity among the 
officers and men by his untiring efforts in their behalf. 

Luckily there was no storm during the voyage, 
and the Ohio reached Aspinwall on the eleventh day 
from New York. The railway at that time was com- 
pleted nearly twenty miles to the point where it 
crosses the Chagres River. The passengers spent 
the night at Aspinwall, breathing the fever-laden at- 
mosphere of the place ; and the next day they were 
packed in the cars, and carried to the point where 
the railway then ended. Through the energy of the 
quartermaster, boats were secured for transporting 
the regiment up the river to Cruces, "eleven miles 
away. They started late in the afternoon, so that 
night came on before the party was three miles away. 
Here the boatmen refused to go until daylight, declar- 
ing that it was dangerous to do so ; and consequently 
the whole paity, ladies and all, were compelled to 
pass the night on the river witliout food or shelter. 

In tlie following forenoon the boats reached Cruces ; 
from there the river was abandoned and the party 
took to the, road. The ladies and most of the officers 
through Grant's energies were supplied with mules ; 
but the great majority of the party went on foot. 

It happened to be the rainy season. The road 



CROSSING THE ISTHMUS. 137 

was nothing more nor less than a track of black mud 
for the greater part of the way, and it varied from 
two inches to as many feet in depth. Captain Grant 
in one of his letters describes it as thirty miles long, 
thirty feet wide, and thirty inches deep; but bear in 
mind that this was in a private letter to his wife, and 
not an official report. The officers' wives asked in 
vain for side-saddles, and found they must follow 
the custom of the country and ride " man fashion." 
They accepted the situation, laid aside their femi- 
nine dresses, donned trousers, and gallantly bestrode 
the mules that had been provided. 

The steamship company had engaged to transport 
the regiment and all accompanying it across the 
isthmus; but beyond Cruces, no arrangements what- 
ever had been made. The soldiers were obliged to 
march, and get along the best way they could. The 
mules for the ladies and the officers had been ob- 
tained tln-ough Grant's personal exertions, assisted 
by the alcalde, or mayor, of Cruces ; but it was 
impossible to obtain transportation for the greater 
part of tlie regimental baggage. A considerable por- 
tion of it was destroyed at Cruces, owing to the im- 
possibility of taking it along. While tlie regiment 
was at Cruces, cholera broke out in the camp, and 
cost the lives of one hundred and fifty men, women, 
and children of the regimental party. 



138 boys' life of general grant. 

Grant's duties kept him with the regiment; and he 
did not reach Panama until several days after the 
ladies of the party had arrived there. The steam- 
ship Golden Gate came in a day or two in advance 
of the regiment, and as soon as possible the troops 
were embarked. When tliey were fairly on board, 
the cholera broke out again and raged fearfully. 
Nearly one hundred men died, and one officer. Major 
Gore, an old and warm friend of Grant, and the 
man in whose house Grant and his wife had lived 
for some time in Detroit. Major Gore was accompa- 
nied by his wife; and after the burial of his remains 
on an island in the Bay of Panama, the colonel 
detailed a lieutenant to escort his widow to her 
old home in Kentucky. She was carried back to 
Aspinwall in a hammock borne by two natives, 
while five other hammocks carried her child, nurse, 
and baggage. Before reaching their destination these 
fellows robbed her of her money and jewelry and 
nearly all of her clothing. 

The Golden Gate remained for some time in the 
harbor at Panama, until the cholera on board had 
subsided. The passengers were in strict quarantine, 
no one being allowed to land, and there was too 
much disease on board for going to sea. After a 
time tlie I'egimental surgeon insisted that the ship 
should be thorouglily fumigated. The passengers tem- 



IN CALIFORNIA. 139 

porarily landed on a small island. The Golden Gate 
was thoroughly fumigated, and large quantities of 
infected clothing, bedding, and the like, were de- 
stroyed. Then the steamer put to sea, and reached 
San Francisco near the end of August, 1852. 

Before he had been an hour in San Francisco, 
Grant met an old friend of Mexican War days. To 
the question, " What are you doing here ? " the man 
replied that he was like thousands of others, doing 
anything he could find, and also ^^ doing" any stranger 
he could get hold of. ''I've been handling ships' 
cargoes," said he, " carrying trunks, acting as clei'k 
in a hotel, and doing a little preaching. Yesterday 
I built an oven for a Dutch baker. He did the work 
while I bossed the job, handing him a brick now 
and then ; and I got ten dollars for what I did. I 
didn't know anything about building ovens, and so 
wasn't hampered by any preconceived notions.' 

A day or two after its arrival at San Francisco, 
the Fourth Infantry was sent to Benicia, a town 
and military post about midway between San Fran- 
cisco and Sacramento. Lieutenant Grant found it was 
very fortunate for him that Mrs. Grant remained at 
home, as the expense of supporting a family there 
was far above his means. The wages of a cook alone 
would have taken all his pay, leaving nothing for 
other servants, house-rent, provisions, clothing, or 



140 boys' life of general grant. 

anything else. Flour was twenty-five cents a pound, 
potatoes sixteen cents, cabbage, beets, and turnips six 
cents, and everything else in proportion. People had 
not then turned theii' attention to agriculture ; and 
the greater part of the provisions consumed there 
were brought from the United States, around Cape 
Horn, or from tlie Hawaiian Islands. 

After the gold rush began to decline, attention 
was turned to the tilling of the soil ; and it was 
then found that tlie land of California was wonder- 
fully productive. For two or three years the wheat 
produced in California was shipped around Cape 
Horn to New York and other Eastern parts, and 
then shipped back again in the shape of flour. After 
a time flour-mills were erected in California, and put 
a stop to the business of going seventeen thousand 
miles to mill. 

After a few weeks in California the Fourth In- 
fantry was ordered to Vancouver on the Columbia 
River; and an intimation was given that it would 
remain there for some time. The high price of po- 
tatoes induced Grant and three other officers to go 
into the potato business, their intention being to 
raise enough for themselves and sell the balance. 
In the spring of 1853, they bought a pair of horses 
that had crossed the plains and were very poor; but 
the animals rapidly regained strength and flesh, and 



A FARMING EXPERIMENT. 141 

were serviceable for plowing. Grant did all the 
plowing with the horses, while the other officers 
planted the potatoes. The tubers grew famously; but 
the Columbia River rose to an unusual height and 
killed most of their crop. Grant said it was a lucky 
circumstance, as it saved digging the potatoes up. 
Everybody else went into the potato business the 
same year, and three-fourths of the crop was allowed 
to rot in the ground. The firm of Grant & Co. 
never sold any potatoes except to their own mess. 

Owing to the death of a superior officer. Grant 
was promoted to a full captaincy on the 5th of 
July, 1853, and was sent to a company of the 
Fourth Infantry which had been detached, and was 
then stationed at Humboldt Bay, Cal. The only 
mode of conveyance was first by steam to San 
Francisco, and then by a sailing-vessel going to 
Humboldt for lumber. A species of cedar, called 
redwood in California, was then used for building 
purposes as extensively as pine is used in the Eastern 
States. Saw-mills had been put up at Humboldt 
Bay, and large quantities of redwood were cut up 
and sent to San Francisco for a market. 

Captain Grant found that San Francisco had grown 
considerably during the year of his absence. When 
he first landed in the city, there was only one wliarf 
in front of it. In 1853 he found that the city had 



142 boys' life of general giiant. 

grown out into the bay beyond what was the end 
of the wharf when he saw it. Streets and houses 
had been built on piles where, twelve months before^ 
large ships were fastened to the wharf, or anchored. 
And we may add here, that as time went on San 
Francisco pushed farther and farther into the bay, 
so that the water-front of the present time is sev- 
eral blocks away from the old water-front of 1850. 
The curious may visit the Niantic Hotel, or what- 
ever building may have succeeded it, and see in the 
cellar thereof the timbers of the old ship Niantic, 
where that craft once lay at anchor. The position 
is now nearly one-half a mile from the water-front. 
The highest court in San Francisco one day decided 
that the owner of the shore owned out into the bay 
for an indefinite distance. That very night an en- 
terprising Yankee loaded a small house on a scow 
and floated it around to a vacant place on the water- 
front. Here, with the aid of some men he liad hired, 
he pulled the scow about half its length on shore, 
and thus "squatted" on the strand. He duly 
entered his claim at the register's office, and within 
two days sold it to a speculator for one hundred 
thousand dollars I 

After joining his company at Humboldt Bay, Cap- 
tain Grant passed a weary and dreary life at the 
little post were he was stationed. There were some 



GRANT AT HUMBOLDT BAY. 143 

Indians in the neigliboilioud, but they were so peace- 
ful that the soldiers were cut off from the excite- 
ment of an occasional Indian hunt. Hunting of other 
kinds was abundant, but Grant did not have much 
taste for it. He bought one of the best horses he 
could find, and passed a considerable portion of his 
time on the back of his steed, roaming through the 
woods that surrounded the bay. 

Grant was induced to embark in a speculation to 
lease a hotel in San Francisco, and run a sort of 
club-room and billiard-room combined, at a rental 
of five hundred dollars a month. It was represented 
that the profits of the in vestment would be very 
large. They might have been so if the officers could 
have managed the business themselves. The agents 
whom they placed in charge were dishonest, and the 
money they collected went into their own pockets. 
After a time the officers grew wear}^ of advancing 
money tluit never returned, and the enterprise was 
abandoned. 

The military post at Humboldt Bay was known as 
Fort Humboldt. There was a town tliree miles awav, 
called Eureka, wliich consisted of two saw-mills, 
twenty dwelling-houses, and a store. The wdiole 
establishment belonged to James T. Ryan, who was 
one of those peculiar characters who seem to be 
especially created for new countries. On his first 



144 boys' life of general grant. 

visit to Humboldt Bay he observed a vast amount 
of timber, and realized how valuable it would be 
when cut into lumber. He purchased the Indian 
claim to the land for a barrel of whisky and a suit 
of old clothes, and then proceeded to San Francisco, 
where he made the necessary entries, and secured 
the land under a Government claim. He bought a 
saw-mill, but was unable to get an engine to run it. 
So he bought an old steamboat and loaded the 
mill upon it, together with a stock of provisions and 
the men whom he wanted for his work. Just as 
he started he found that somebody had stolen his 
compass. He found a little river compass with the 
glass broken ; he took a pane of glass and cut it 
into shape with a pair of scissors, holding the glass 
under water while cutting it. He fitted this glass 
into the top of his river compass, and by means of 
this instrument he steered the boat up the coast to 
its destination. Then he ran the bow of the steam- 
boat on shore, pulled her partly out of water by 
means of her capstan, set up the saw-mill by her 
side, and used the engines on the boat to run it by. 
He laid out the town of Eureka by means of a sur- 
veying instrument which he made out of a piece 
of wood and two medicine vials. He afterwards be- 
came a briofadier-ofeneral and a member of the Cali- 
fornia Senate. In 1861 he visited Washington, and 



t 

JOHN T. RYAN. 145 

was introduced to President Lincoln by Senator Mac- 
Dougal of California in these words: — 

" Mr. President, this is General Ryan, a loyal 
neighbor of mine, who can build a cathedral and 
preach in it, a ship and sail it, or an engine and 
run it." 

Ryan owned a fine horse called Eclipse, and occa- 
sionally he lent it to Captain Grant for a gallop in 
the afternoon. When Grant was commanding the 
armies in front of Richmond, Ryan called upon him, 
and was immediately recognized and addressed by 
name. 

"How is everything at Eureka?" said the gen- 
eral, after first inquiring about Ryan's family. 

"Things are pretty much the same there," was 
the reply, "though the place has grown some." 

"How is Eclipse? Is he still alive?" 

" He is still alive," Ryan answered, " though he 
isn't the horse now that he was when you knew 
him." 

"He was the finest horse I ever saw on the Pa- 
cific coast," said Grant with much emphasis ; and 
then proceeded to introduce his visitor to Generals 
Sheridan, Meade, and other officers who were calling 
upon him. 

Captain Grant went into business in a small way 
by entering into a partnership with his brother-in- 



14G boys' life of general grant. 

law, Lewis Dent, who was running a ferry-boat at 
Knight's Ferry on the Stanishius River. The ferry 
Avas fairly profitable, but not largely so ; and there 
was no chance that it would bring a fortune to its 
owners unless the discovery of gold beyond the river 
sliould lead to a rush in that direction. The owners 
of the ferry waited for the discovery and consequent 
rusli, Ixit neither of them came. 

Grant longed for the society of his wife and two 
children, but he could see no prospect of having 
them come to him, as the support of a family in 
that locality was quite out of question on a captain's 
pay ; so he decided to resign from the army and go 
into something else. His resignation was tendered, 
to take effect July 31, 1854. After resigning, he 
remarked to a friend that anybody who hunted for 
him ten years later would find him a prosperous 
farmer in Missouri. 

Grant remained for a little while with his brother- 
in-law at Knight's Ferry, and occasionally assisted 
in running- the boat. After he became famous as 
commander-in-chief of the army, and president of 
the United States, it was an astounding circumstance 
tliat every man in California from one end of the 
State to the other remembered ''having seen Grant 
at Knight's Ferry." To this day pretty nearly all 
old Calif ornians make the same assertion. The in- 



GRANT LOSES MONEY. 147 

ference is that the ferry must have done an enor- 
mous business in the short period that Grant remained 
there. 

Late in the summer of 1854, Grant rejoined his 
family at St. Louis, finding in it a son whom he 
had never seen, the one who was born while he was 
crossing the isthmus on his way to California. 

He arrived home Avith a very low purse, and went 
from New York to St. Louis by way of Sackett's Har- 
bor, hoping to collect there fifteen hundred dollars 
which he had loaned to the post sutler; but the sutler 
had sold out his business and gone, and Grant was 
unable to get a cent of the money. Though the 
sutler was afterward an officer in Grant's command, 
he never repaid the debt, or any part of it. Grant 
miglit have taken advantage of his position and forced 
him to pay it, but he was too broad-minded for any- 
thing like that. 

His prospects in life at this time were not brilliant. 
His wife owned a farm of sixty acres in St. Louis ; 
but there was no house on it, and no stock or farm- 
ing utensils. Grant built a small log house on the 
farm, working industriously until it was completed; 
then he moved in his family, and they set up house- 
keeping in a very modest way. He bought a wagon 
and a pair of horses partly for cash, and partly on 
credit; and occasionally brought a load of wood into 



148 boys' life of general grant. 

the city for sale. Several times he took wood to Jef- 
ferson Barracks, and while there he came across some 
of the officers he had known in the service. Usually 
he had a pleasant chat with them and came away 
in a cheerful mood; but sometimes his feelings were 
touched by a show of disdain on the part of some 
of his comrades who seemed to look down on him 
now that he had become a farmer. 

About this time John Dent, a younger brother of 
Mrs. Grant, planned to go to California and join the 
elder brother, Lewis, who was running the ferry- 
boat at Knight's Ferry. One of the colored servants 
(slaves), named George, wanted to go with John as 
a protector ; but the question was raised as to the 
chances of his taking advantage of the laws of the 
first free State he entered and running away. The 
matter was referred to Grant. 

''I don't see why a black skin shouldn't cover an 
honest heart as well as a white one. I would trust 
George, as I believe him to be throughly honest and 
loyal to all of us." 

George went to California with John, and never 
showed the least intention of running away. In 
course of time, when other enterprises called the 
Dent brothers away, he was in charge of the busi- 
ness of the ferry, and managed it faithfully. 

In the spring of 1855, Grant managed to get to- 



IN THE REAL ESTATE BUSINESS. 149 

gether a plow and some other farming utensils, and, 
as the phrase is in the West, he proceeded "to put 
in a crop." Farming was hard work, and the com- 
pensation not great. The crops from the land served 
to give him and his family an existence, and not 
much beyond it. Whenever any ready money was 
badly needed, it was obtained by the sale of wood. 

After three years of farming experience, Grant, in 
the autumn of 1858, sold out the crops, stock, farnic 
ing utensils, and the like, and gave up farming. He 
was ill with fever and ague for nearly a year before 
he did so ; and he came to the conclusion that the 
atmosphere of the farm was malarious, and he would 
never be well as long as he remained there. His 
illness did not keep him in the house, but it inter- 
fered with his work. 

After quitting the farm. Grant went into partner- 
ship with Henry Boggs, a cousin of his wife, in the 
real-estate business. Grant became a candidate for 
the office of county engineer. He was very anxious 
to obtain the position, as the pay ($1900 a year) 
would have been sufficient to support him and his 
family handsomely. There were only two candidates 
for the position ; and the appointment was in the 
hands of the county court, which consisted of five 
individuals. The other candidate was a German who 
had been recently made a citizen of the United 



150 boys' life of general grant. 

States. The German obtained the appointment; and 
when the news was taken to Grant, the latter 
quietly remarked that "the successful man had the 
advantage of birth." St. Louis had a very large 
population of Germans at that time, and it is quite 
likely that a native of the United States was at a 
disadvantage. 

A friend urged Grant to study law and practice it 
in connection with his real-estate business; but the 
captain thought he was too old to undertake it, 
though he might be inclined to it if he could do as 
well as a friend of his in a mining-town in Cali- 
fornia. Then he told the following story: — 

" My friend undertook the defense of a young man 
who was in jail on the charge of having stolen five 
hundred dollars from a stranger. The client satisfied 
the lawyer of his innocence; and the latter made 
such a successful defense that the prisoner was hon- 
orably acquitted, the judge and all the jury shaking 
hands with him before he left the court. 

'•The next day he came to my friend and handed 
him two hundi^ed and fifty dollars, saying, as he did 
so, that he thought a lawyer who could do as well 
as he had done for a client deserved half the 
amount stolen." 

Unsuccessful in the real-estate business. Grant 
looked around for something else. He obtained a 



IN BUSINESS AT GALENA. 151 

position in the custom-house at St. Louis, but lost 
it in less than a month on account of the death of 
the collector. After the loss of the custom-house 
place, he paid a visit to his father at Covington, 
Ky., to consider the subject of business for the 
future. Jesse Grant had established a tannery and 
leather-store at Galena, 111., and placed it in charge 
of his two sons, Simpson and Orville, though it was 
still his property, and "J. R. Grant" was the nominal 
owner. 

A family council was held concerning the future 
of Ulysses; and after considerable discussion it was 
decided that he could enter the leather-store as 
clerk, at a salary of six hundred dollars a year. If 
he was successful and liked the business, he would 
be taken in as partner. Jesse had been prosperous, 
and at that time considered himself worth from sixty 
to eighty thousand dollars. The Galena enterprise 
proved to be a good one, and much of its success 
was due to the good management of the two 
brothers. It was Jesse's intention to give Ulysses, 
provided he proved useful, a partnership interest, 
though not as large a one as either of his brothers, 
because thev had helped to build up the business. 



152 boys' life of genehal grant. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Galena and its history. — Lincoln's election. — Threatened troubles with 
the South. — Excitement in North and South after Lincoln's election. 
— The inauguration. — Conduct of Buchanan's administration. — Call 
for troops. — Response of Galena. — Speeches of E. B. Washburne and 
John A. Rawlins. 

Grant moved to Galena in March, 1860. Galena 
is situated on the river of the same name, forty 
miles above the point where it enters the Mississippi 
River. The city is built on both sides of the river, 
in a little valley, and at that time consisted of a 
main street devoted to business, while the streets on 
each side of it, and especially on the north, con- 
tained the residences. A steep bluff on the north 
side rose over the river to a height of about two 
hundred feet, and many of the residences were 
perched on the side of this bluff, or stmggled away 
over its summit. 

In the early days of Western settlement. Galena 
was for a long time a frontier post. Colonel Dent, 
Grant's father-in-law, had formerly traded with the 
Indians at Galena; audit is said that he erected one 
of the first buildings in the town. He supplied 
provisions for the military post farther up the Mis- 



MUTTEKINGS OF WAR. 153 

sissippi, and he went up the great river to the Falls 
of St. Anthony on the very first steamboat that 
reached that point. 

Immediately on arriving at Galena, Grant assumed 
his new duties as clerk in the store. He weighed 
or measured leather for the customer, and bouoht 
hides to be used in the tannery. The stock of the 
store included not only domestic leather, but saddlery 
materials, shoe-findings, French calf, and morocco, 
and other goods purchased in the East, and not 
produced in Illinois. He made tours through the 
North-west, visiting their numerous customers, and 
obtaining orders for goods. Those who knew Grant 
then say that while he was cheerful and affable, and 
on friendly terms with all of their local customers, 
he was not a good traveling salesman. He could 
not chaffer and tell stories; and as for drinking, he 
had been a total abstainer for several years. Occa- 
sionally in his tours he fell in with old army officers ; 
and on such occasions, especially when the Mexican 
War was under discussion, he could talk glibly 
enough. 

The troubles which immediately preceded the war 
were then exciting a good deal of discussion. The 
election of 1860 was at hand; and the South was 
making very earnest threats as to what it should do 
in case its candidate, Breckinridge, was defeated, and 



154 boys' life of general grant. 

the Northern candidate, Lincoln, elected. The Re- 
publican party had come into existence only a few 
years earlier, having named its first presidential 
candidate in 1856. 

Grant was conservative in his views, while his 
sympathies were with the Republican party, knowing 
as he did that the estimate put upon it by the South 
was a false one. He desired at the same time that 
the country should remain at peace. When the 
election of 1860 came on, he had not lived long 
enough in Illinois to be entitled to vote, and said 
he was glad of it, on the whole, that he was not 
compelled to make a distinction. He would have 
voted for Stephen A. Douglas, who had no chance 
whatever of being elected ; but, nevertheless, Grant 
would have voted for him because his views more 
nearly coincided with the Douglas platform than 
Avith that of the others. As between Breckinridge 
and Lincoln, he wanted to see Lincoln elected. He 
liad hopes that between the time of the election and 
inauguration, in case Mr. Lincoln were elected, the 
Southerners would cool down, and take a second 
sober thought before plunging the country into a 
condition of anarchy or civil strife. 

From the date of the election in November down 
to the time of the inauguration of tlie President in 
March, 1861, was a period of great excitement. 



SECESSION. ][55 

South Carolina carried out her threat' of secession, 
and other Southern States proceeded to follow her 
example. In most of the Southern States, any oppo- 
sition to secession wherever it existed was suppressed, 
and, if necessary, by violent measures. Some of tlie' 
slave States, Maryland, Delaware, and Missouri, did 
not secede, though their governors were in sym- 
pathy with secession, and did their best to carry their 
States out of the Union. 

Several States had for a time after the beginning 
of the war a dual form of government; that is, they 
had a governor and other officials in sympathy with 
the Union, and also a governor and similar officials 
in sympathy with the Confederacy. The governor 
and lieutenant-governor of Missouri, Jackson and 
Reynolds, were in sympathy with the Confederacy, 
and kept the secession flag flying over the State 
House in Jefferson City until the Union troops 
arrived and took possession. Then tliey fled with 
the Confederate troops; and although Jackson died 
not long afterwards, the semblance of a Government 
was kept up till the close of the Rebellion, although 
for the greater part of the time it was outside of the 
State. A somewhat similar state of affairs prevailed 
in Kentucky, but it did not last as long as in Missouri. 
So great was the excitement tliroughout the North, 
and so numerous were the Northern sympathizers' 



156 boys' life of generai: grant. 

with the secession movement, that when the time 
came for the president-elect to proceed to Washing- 
ton to take the oath of office, it was considered unsafe 
for him to travel openly. Plots were made for his 
assassination; and though Mr. Lincoln opposed the 
scheme vehemently, he yielded to the advice of 
friends, and consented to be smuggled into the 
Nation's capital. With the knowledge of his move- 
ments confined to a very small circle of close friends, 
he left at Harrisburg the train on which he was 
supposed to be traveling, and slipped through 
Baltimore and thence to Washington on another and 
earlier train. There is little doubt that he would 
have been assassinated had he continued on the train 
by which he traveled from Illinois to the capital of 
Pennsylvania. 

President Lincoln was inaugurated on the 4th of 
March. The movement for secession continued ; and 
and on the llth of April the Secessionists took the 
aggressive, and opened fire upon Fort Sumter in 
Charleston harbor. President Lincoln issued a call 
for seventy-five thousand volunteers to serve three 
months. Of course there was great excitemont every- 
where, and all over the North the enrolling of volun- 
teers began. The majority of the people thought the 
call was for altogethei" too long a time ; in their opin- 
ion one. or at most two, months would have been 
sufficient. 



Lincoln's election. 15 7 

The whole North was on fire. Every city and town 
and village began to muster its able-bodied men; and, 
figuratively speaking, the entire region north of Mason 
and Dixon's Line became a military camp. Very 
speedily the required forces were raised, and the gov- 
ernors of nearly all the Northern States were perplexed 
at the excessive numbers of volunteers offered to them. 
Let us see what happened in Galena. 
On the eveniDg of the day of election, a party of 
Republicans gathered at the leather-store, and sat up 
late at night to learn the news. It was pretty well 
along towards morning before they ascertained that 
Lincoln was elected. They cheered loudly, and one of 
them said afterwards that he thought the noise they 
made ought to have waked up everybody in Galena. 
All the members of the Grant firm were at the store ; 
and after the news of Lincoln's election had been 
received, the Grant brothers opened several cans of 
oysters for the entertainment of the party and also 
two or three bottles of whisky. Ulysses helped his 
brothers to entertain the party, but did not take any 
part of the refreshments ; he seemed as much pleased 
at the result of the election as any of the group ; and 
it was remarked by one of those present, that his 
Douglas Democracy was very thin. From that time 
on he was a Republican, though only a moderate oiie. 
During the period that followed the election, Grant 



158 boys' life of general grant. 

took a more active part than before in public affairs. 
He was unsparing in his denunciation of the weakness 
and treachery of Buchanan's administration, and espe- 
cially of the imbecility of the President himself. He 
did not look for serious trouble, but thought it not at 
all improbable that there might be a clash of arms 
before an understanding was reached. On one point 
he was somewhat at variance Avith his neighbors, or, 
at least, the majority of them. A friend said to him 
one day that there was a great deal of bluster about 
the Southerners, but he did not believe they would 
fight. 

" There's where you're wrong," Grant replied. " I 
know they bluster a great deal ; but when it comes to 
fighting you'll find they have just as much courage 
as anybody else, and will give us all the war we want. 
I know a good many of the officers that were raised at 
West Point, and they are just as brave and intelli- 
aent as the Northern officers are. Don't make any 
mistake about it; they are Americans just the same 
as we are, and will fight quite as earnestly for what 
they believe is right." 

And so it was before the war began, and for the 
first few months of it ; each side overestimated its 
own abih ties, and underestimated the abilities of the 
(jther. Perhaps the Southerners did more boasting 
ihan the people of the North; andVe heard a great 



WAR TALK EVEKYWHEKE. 159 

deal about that time of one Southerner benig able to 
whip five Northern men. There was plenty of loud 
talk of the same sort through the North ; but after 
the first few encounters in the field, all this boasting 
ceased on both sides, and we never heard more 
of it. 

There was war talk all over the land, and Galena 
had its share. Nothing practically was undertaken 
until the firing upon Sumter, when the North, as 
already mentioned, rose to arms at the call of the 
President. Galena responded as promptly as any other 
town or city in the State of Illinois. 

Trade had been dull for several months ; and when 
on Monday, the 15th of April, news came of the 
capture of Fort Sumter, business was almost entirely 
suspended. Jesse Grant's leather-store was the center 
of attraction, and all day long it was filled with peo- 
ple. Before that time a considerable portion of Cap- 
tain Grant's talk referred to horses and the Mexican 
War ; but both of those topics were now dropped 
entirely. The captain saw war in the immediate fu- 
ture, and said to all visitors that the firing upon Fort 
Sumter settled the matter, and we could hardly hope 
to escape fighting. And to several friends he re- 
marked, — 

" I thought I had done with military life, and never 
expected to go soldiering again ; but if my country 



160 boys' life of general grant. 

needs me, I am ready. Slie educated me, and I owe 
her my services in case of necessity." 

Placards were posted all over town calling for a 
meeting in the Court House on Tuesday evening, April 
16. The large hall of the Court House was crowded; 
and the chair was taken by the mayor, Mr. Brand, a 
Democrat, who was not at all in favor of the war. In 
his opening speech he charged the Republicans with 
liaving brought on the trouble which then disturbed 
the country. He said he could not conceive of any cir- 
cumstance which justified the North in making war upon 
the South, and he hoped that some compromise would 
be made that would avert the threatened hostilities. 

Among those present at the meeting was Elihu B. 
Washburne, a resident of Galena, and the representa- 
tive in Congress of that district of Illinois. When 
the mayor sat down, Washburne rose to his feet, and 
exclaimed with great vigor, — 

" Mr. Chairman, any man who will try to stir party 
prejudice at such a time is a traitor." 

The audience applauded loudly and long, and it was 
several minutes before Mr. Washburne could proceed. 
He offered a series of resolutions which pledged the 
people to support the Government in maintaining the 
integrity of the Union, and recommended the formation 
of military companies ready for any call. The resolu- 
tions closed as follows i — 



MEETING AT GALENA. IBl 

" Finally, we solemnly resolve, that having lived under 
the Stars and Stripes, by the blessing of God we pro- 
pose to die under them." 

The resolutions were greeted with loud cheering; 
and when Washburne sat down there were loud 
calls for — 

" Rawlins ! Rawlins ! '^ 

Rawlins was a young lawyer born in Galena, and 
owing his education to his own exertions. He was 
a fine speaker, and a Douglas Democrat, and in the 
presidential campaign of 1860 he was the Douglas 
candidate for elector. He " stumped " his district 
in behalf of his candidate during the election cam- 
paign, and was considered one of the best speakers 
in that part of Illinois. His complexion was dark, 
his eyes and hair were coal-black, and he was some- 
times playfully called " Indian John " by his inti- 
mates. 

A story was told about Rawlins during the cam- 
paign that illustrates his keen and ready wit. On 
one occasion he followed his opponent in a debate, 
after the Western custom. The latter had enter- 
tained the audience for about two hours, and wound 
up by saying that he was brought up in the country, 
and never went to school more than three months. 
When Rawlins arose, he began in a droll way and 
said, — 



162 BOYS* LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

^' My friend tells you that be never went to school 
but three months in his whole life. The fact is, I 
was very much surprised to hear lie had ever been 
to scliool at all. ' 

At the loud and continued calling of his name, 
Rawlins edged his way through the crowd and up 
to the platform where the mayor was sitting. With- 
out waitino- for an introduction, and none was needed 
where everybody knew his face, the young lawyer 
began. For nearly an hour he lield the audience 
spellbound, while he went over the history of the 
past thirt}' or forty years, so far as the relations 
between the slave States and the free States were 
concerned. He briefly reviewed the history of the 
Missouri compromise, the annexation of Texas, the 
war with Mexico, and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. As 
he went on, his voice rose higher and higher until it 
was audible beyond the walls of the building. As 
he neared the end of his speech his voice seemed 
to ring out like a trumpet as he uttered the clos- 
ing words : — 

" I have been a Democrat all my life ; but this is 
no longer a question of politics. It is simply country 
or no country. I have favored every honorable com- 
promise ; but the day for compromise is past. Only one 
course is left us. WE WILL STAND BY THE FLAG 
OF OUR COUNTRY, AND APPEAL TO THE GOD 
OF BATTLES ! " 



MEETING AT GALENA. 163 

His impassioned oratory carried the audience with 
him. Every man rose to his feet, and joined in three 
cheers for Major Anderson, the gallant defender of 
Fort Sumter; three cheers, and three times three, for 
the old flag; and cheers again for the maintenance 
of the Union. The meeting then broke up. 

Captain Grant was at the meeting, but took no 
active part in it. His brothei-s were with him, and 
on their way home Ulysses said, — 

''I think I ought to go into the service." 

His brothers agreed with him that it was his duty 
to serve his country in her hour of peril, and told 
him that they would look after the store during 
his absence. Little more was said on tlie subject 
that evening. The next morning Ulysses went to 
the store as usual, but found little to do, as the 
suspension of business still continued, and everybody 
was full of excitement concerning the war. 



164 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Galena raises a company. — Grant drills and instructs the men. — Pre- 
sides at a meeting. — Writes to the adjutant-general at ^Yashington. 
— Goes to Springfield. — Enters the State service. — Military adviser 
to the governor. — Colonel of Twenty-first Illinois Infantry. — Ordered 
to North Missouri. — Light marching order. — Guarding railways and 
bridges. 

Two evenings later a meeting was held to con- 
sider the question of raising volunteers. Capt. John 
E. Smith, who commanded a militia company at 
Galena, called the assemblage to order, and then 
said, — 

'•I nominate Capt. Ulysses S. Grant as chairman 
of this meeting." 

The motion was carried, and the captain went 
upon the platform. A good many people in Galena 
knew him by name and also by sight; but of those 
present on that occasion, comparatively few had ever 
set eyes on the man to knoAV him. He was vv^ear- 
ing an old army overcoat, and held in his hand a 
soft hat which had evidently seen a good deal of 
exposure. As he reached the platform, and moved 
across it somewhat awkwardly, his head slightly on 
one side and his shoulders stooping, some of the 



GALENA FORMS A COMPANY. 165 

audience manifested a feeling of disappointment, and 
one remarked sneeringly, though in a low tone, to 
his neighbor, — 
" ITe a captain ! " 

The captain took the chair at once, and proceeded 
to address the audience. A curious thing is that 
everybody who was at that meeting says his speech 
was very fluently delivered, and that he showed more 
coolness and composure in addressing the audience 
than he ever showed afterward at any public affair. 
He stated briefly the objects of the meeting, and 
referred to the President's call for seventy-five thou- 
sand volunteers, of which the quota of Illinois was 
six regiments. He explained that the quota of Galena 
would probably be one company ; and then, in reply 
to questions by some of those present, he explained 
that a company consists of one hundred men, and 
a regiment of ten companies. He then told about 
the officers (three) of each company, and the officers 
(seven) belonging to the regiment as a whole. He 
told about the duties and pay of the men, and the 
duty and pay of each officer. 

Half an hour or more was taken up with his 
speech, including the questions by which it was in- 
terrupted, and then rolls were opened for the sig- 
natures of volunteers. John A. Rawlins, the orator 
previously mentioned, was present, and suggested that 



166 boys' life of general grant. 

the original rolls should be preserved, as the sig- 
natures would be valuable in the future. The first 
signature was that of A. L. Chetlain, who after- 
ward became a brigadier-general ; and some eight or 
ten other names were put down that evening. By 
the next evening more than fifty signatures had been 
obtained, and within the week the whole number re- 
quired, one hundred, had volunteered, and more than 
two hundred had been rejected. The company was 
attached to the Twelfth Illinois Regiment. 

Two days after the formation of this company, one 
of Grant's friends told him there was to be a meet- 
ing for raising volunteers at Hanover that evening, 
and he thought they had better drive over. They 
did so, and found that the meeting was held in the 
schoolhouse, which was crowded. Speeches were made 
by Rawlins and others, including a young lawyer 
named Rowley, who held the position of county 
clerk. Grant was then called upon to address the 
audience. He declined at first, but on being pressed, 
he rose and said, — 

" I don't know anything about speeches ; that is 
not in my line ; but we are forming a compan}^ in 
Galena, ' and mean to do what we can to put down 
the Rebellion. Tf any of you feel like enlisting, I'll 
give you all the information and help that I can." 

Rolls were then prepared for signature, and a good 



GRANT'S PROPHETIC VI KW. 167 

many of the young men put down their names. On 
the way home, Rawlins and Rowley were in the 
wagon with Captain Grant and his brother. Natu- 
rally the conversation was entirely in regard to the 
war, and the prospect of its duration. Rowley re- 
marked that he thought the seventy-five thousand 
troops which the President had called for would put 
a stop to the whole business ; and that as soon as 
the people of the South saw that the North was in 
earnest, they would become more reasonable. 

Grant replied that he thought the business was a 
good deal larger than most of the people believed. 
" You'll want," said he, " ten times seventy-five thou- 
sand soldiers before you get through with the war." 

'^ Oh, nonsense!" replied Rowley; ''excuse me for 
ridiculing your opinion, Captain, but I am sure you're 
wrono- ; sure as can be. Make it twice instead of 
ten times, and we'll compromise on that. Til make 
any bet you please that we won't need two hundred 
thousand men." 

" The subject is too serious for a bet," the captain 
answered ; " suppose we wait and see." 

Rawlins then interposed, and suggested, in a jesting 
tone, that the three of them should raise a company 
for the war. Grant should be captain, and Rawdins 
and Rowley would toss up a penny to determine 
who should be first lieutenant, and who second 



1G8 boys' life of CxENEkal grant. 

lieutenant. Grant accepted the offer in the same 
spirit in which Rawlins had spoken, and then said 
he thought seriously that he could command a com- 
pany, as he had already commanded one, though in 
time of peace. He told his friends that he had 
already written to the adjutant-general at Washing- 
ton offering his services ; as he thought it was the 
duty of every man who had been educated by the 
Government to submit himself to the orders of 
the nation when she desired him. He added that 
he thought such men would be needed, and he ex- 
pected a favorable reply. 

The fact is that no response was ever made to 
Captain Grant's letter. When it reached the war de- 
partment. General Thomas, the ajutant-general, prob- 
ably gave it a hasty glance and tossed it aside. 
After Grant became President, he caused a search to 
be made among the files of the war department for 
that letter. It could not be found among the regular 
papers anywhere, and General Grant concluded that 
it might have been lost in the mails and never re- 
ceived. But a long time afterwards, an officer in the 
department, while packing up his papers previous to 
removing his office, found the letter in an out-of-the- 
way place. It had never been put on the files of the 
department, and it seems almost a miracle that it 
ever came to li^fht again. 



DRILLING THE GALENA COMPANY. 169 

The Galena company was as ignorant of military 
affairs as a herd of cows is of astronomy. Grant 
readily consented to instruct and drill them, and he 
devoted to this service all the time they required. 
They wanted him to be their captain, but he declined ; 
and the election of that officer resulted in the choice 
of A. L. Chetlain. Mr. Washburne, a member of 
Congress for that district, as already stated, had never 
met Grant previous to the meeting in the town-hall. 
He inquired about him, and came to the leather-store 
one day to see him. They had quite a talk, in which 
Grant said he was not a seeker for position, but if 
the country wanted him he was ready to serve it. 

Washburne replied that it was just that kind of 
men that the country needed ; then he added, — 

"The Legislature meets next Tuesday, April 23. 
Come to Springfield with me, and I'm sure you'll be 
wanted for a place. Men with experience in military 
matters are altogether too scarce nowadays. The 
governor, I'm sure, will be very glad to have your 
help." 

Grant consented to go, and from that day on he 
never transacted any more business in the leather- 
store. Up to the time of his departure, he was 
constantly occupied with drilling the volunteers, or 
setting his own affairs in order for an indefinite 
absence. 



170 boys' life of general grant. 

The volunteers at Galena had no uniforms, and 
the ladies of the place determined to supply them. 
They had a meeting one afternoon at the house of 
one of their number, and Captain Grant was sent 
for to tell them about the uniform of the soldiers 
in the infantry, llie principal tailor of Galena was 
also present; and the captain explained to the assem- 
blao-e all the details of the uniform, the color of the 
cloth; and everything about it. Cloth was procured, 
and through the aid of the tailor the uniforms were 
properly designed and cut. Feminine hands sewed 
them together, and when they were completed and 
donned they looked very well indeed. Captain Grant 
did not have an opportunity to see them, as they 
were not finislied until after his departure for Spring- 
field, the capital of Illinois. 

On reaching Springfield, Grant went to one of the 
hotels wiih Washburne ; and as soon as he was 
lodged there, he accompanied his friend to call upon 
the governor. They had a short interview with 
Governor Yates, and also with Capt. John Pope, 
who afterwards rose to the rank of major-general. 
There was much confusion in Springfield, and every- 
thing seemed to be in a state of chaos. 

Washbnnie and other Republicans from the Ga- 
lena region urged the governor to give Grant an 
appointment at once ; but there was much political 



GRANT SEES THE GOVERNOR. 171 

pressure from all parts of the State, and a great 
scramble for office. Consequently the governor hes- 
itated; and after a few days, Grant said to Wash- 
burne, — 

"I think I'll go home to-morrow. I'm no office- 
seeker; and I see that nothing can be done here 
without crowding and pushing, to which I am very 
much averse. I might loiter around here for months 
and accomplish nothing." 

Washburne persuaded him to remain a little longer; 
and so he was kept on for several days, repeatedly 
declaring that he would return to Galena, and as 
often being persuaded by Washburne and the rest 
to wait a little longer. 

Governor Yates was entirely ignorant of military 
matters, and it was suggested that he take Grant 
into his office as military advisor and clerk. It 
occurred to the governor that this would l)e a very 
good thing; and after questioning Grant as to the 
number of men in a company, and the number of 
companies in a regiment, he gave him the appoint- 
ment. It is proper to say that after asking those 
questions and receiving the answers, the governor 
remarked that he presumed the captain was right, 
as he did not know himself. 

The story is told of a colonel of a regiment in 
the early part of the war who was drilling his men 



172 boys' life of general grant. 

one day, and found himself facing a fence which he 
wished to pass. Pausing a moment, he gave the 
following command, — 

" Gentlemen, break ranks and form on the other 
side of the fence I " 

Grant entered at once upon his duties, and found 
that the adjutant-general of the State knew very 
little more about military matters than did the gov- 
ernor. There were no blank forms in the office for 
the transaction of its business. Grant ruled sheets 
of paper, and prepared them for temporary use until 
the proper blanks could be printed; and very soon 
he had the office work fully systemized, and the 
business running easily. 

He was only in the office a few days befoi-e he 
was called to more important work. Captain Pope 
was sent away temporarily to Northern Missouri, and 
during his absence Captain Grant Avas put in com- 
mand of Camp Yates. He had the title of captain; 
but as yet he wore no uniform, nor had he been 
supplied with a commission. 

One of the first of his duties was to muster sev- 
eral regiments into the service. Among them was 
the Twenty-first Illinois, which he afterward com- 
manded. 

A Southern newspaper of May 13, 1861, had a 
jocular para,graph concerning the report of "one Cap- 



CAPTAIN GRANT AND SIXTY RIFLES. 173 

tain U. S. Grant" to the governor, that the State 
possessed nine hundred rifles, of which only sixty 
were fit for service. The paper liad a great deal 
of fun over the possibility of the soldiers of Illi- 
nois coming to conquer the South with sixty rusty 
muskets, and led by "one Captain U. S. Grant." 
They were not so jocular a year or so later when 
the same captain appeared among them wearing the 
uniform of a major-general, and followed by one 
thousand times more than the bearers of sixty rusty 
muskets. 

Near- the end of May, Grant went home for a few 
days, and while he was there one of his friends 
asked him why he did not apply for the command 
of a regiment. The friend thought that as things 
were going, Grant was as much entitled to a col- 
onel's commission as anybody else, and a great deal 
more so than some who had received it. Grant hes- 
itated a minute, and then said, — 

"To be entirely frank with you, I would rather 
like a regiment ; but there are very few men really 
competent to command one thousand soldiers, and I 
am in some doubt as to whether I could do it." 

After Grant returned to Springfield, there was 
trouble in the Twenty-first Illinois Regiment, which 
was then at Camp Yates, close to the city ; its colonel 
was found to be incompetent, as his habits were not of 



174 boys' life of general gkant. 

the best, and he coukl not preserve order among his 
men. The regiment was insubordinate, and many of 
the men deserted. Governor Yates wanted to appoint 
Grant to the colonelcy ; but he hesitated, as he had 
already offered to recommend him to the war depart- 
ment for a brigadier-general, but Grant declined, say- 
ing that he did not wish to be recommended for 
office, but wanted to earn one. Fearing that the same 
thing might happen if he offered the command of 
the Twenty-fnst Infantry, he sat down and wrote an 
order as follows : — 

" You are this day appoiuted colonel of the Twenty- 
first Illinois Volunteers, and requested to take com- 
mand at once." 

Later Grant's commission was made out, and Gov- 
ernor Yates afterwards said that it was the most 
glorious day of his life when he signed it. 

Grant immediately assumed his new duties, and 
found the regiment in a chaotic condition; the men 
wore no uniforms, and most of them were as ragged 
as street beggars. There was an insufficient supph' 
of tents ; and as for discipline, there was none of it. 
They were splendid fellows physically, nearly all of 
them the sons of Illinois farmers, and excellent 
material for making soldiers. 

When Grant first went to the camp lie was almost 



THE TWENTY-FIKST ILLINOIS. 175 

as shabby as his men. He had no uniform, and the 
citizen suit that he wore was in a very sad condi- 
tion; the coat being out at the elbows, and the 
trousers very baggy at the knees, and frayed at the 
ends of the legs. His hat was a little rusty, and 
looked as if it had done duty for a season or two 
as a scarecrow in a cornfield. No wonder tlie 
soldiers made fun of him as he went among them. 
They uttered various exclamations not at all com- 
plimentary; and one of them, to show his derision, 
began sparring at Grant's back, and was pushed by 
a comrade so that he landed a slight blow between 
the shoulders of his new commander. 

The men soon found out that their freshly arrived 
colonel had a way of enforcing order and discipline 
to an extent that surprised them. The first time the 
regiment Avas called out for dress parade, the day 
was Avarm, and several of the officers came without 
their coats. Grant reproved them sharply in a verv 
few words, telling them that oflficers were expected to 
wear their clothing on dress parade; tlien he ordered 
them to dismiss the men, and sent them to quarters. 
A day or two after Grant assumed command the 
morning roll-call Avas an hour late. Grant sent the 
men back to quarters; and as there was no mornino- 
report, there Avere no rations that day. Thei-e Avas a 
great deal of begging and praying for food, and the 
(jfPense was not repeated. 



176 boys' life of general grant. 

At the end of the week the regiment had been 
brought into a very creditable state of discipline; and 
in course of time the Twenty-first Illinois Infantry 
was one of the best regiments in the service. Grant 
was severe, but at the same time was kind to officers 
and men ; and all became attached to him, as soldiers 
always do to an officer who ''knows his business." 
The regiment had been mustered in for thirty days, 
and its time expired about a fortnight after Grant 
took command. Nearly all the men re-enlisted for the 
war. 

About the time that the regiment was licked into 
shape, and had been uniformed and equipped, Grant 
obtained his colonel's uniform, and had bought a 
horse and the necessary equipments. He had no ready 
money, but obtained the means for his purchases by 
borrowing three hundred dollars on a note with the 
endorsement of a friend. 

There was a good deal of trouble all over Missouri, 
particularly in the northern part, where Colonel Harris, 
a Confederate leader, had organized a cavalry squad- 
ron, and was moving about the country committing 
many depredations upon sympathizers with the Union 
cause. A call came for troops to be sent to North 
Missouri ; and on hearing of it Colonel Grant went to 
Governor Yates, and asked that his regiment be sent 
in response to the call. Yates replied that he had no 



MARCHING TO NORTH MISSOURI 177 

transportation, whereupon Grant said he would find 
his own transportation. 

Yates ordered the regiment to Mexico in North 
Missouri ; and Grant immediately hired wagons for 
the baggage, and started across the countr}^, marching 
his men all the way, and declaring that was the best 
method of making soldiers of them. The journey 
occupied a week, none of the marches being very 
long. The soldiers were inclined to commit depreda- 
tions on the way, but Grant speedily put a stop to 
this by punishing all offenders. He introduced the 
old army practice of tying up by the thumbs, and 
otherwise making those who violated the regulations 
learn from practical experience that army life was 
not altogether a picnic. In a very sliort time plun- 
dering ceased altogether, and the regiment was as 
well-behaved as a Sunday-school taking a day's out- 
ing. 

Captain Pope, now promoted to a brigadier-general, 
was commanding in North Missouri. He assigned 
Grant's regiment to guarding bridges and the railway 
line, and making occasional expeditions in pursuit of 
groups of rebels. They had no fighting, however, 
as they never succeeded in getting nearer to the 
rebels than within fifteen or twenty miles. Tliey had 
a srood deal of marchincr, and weie under strict disci- 
pline ; and a visitor to the camp of the Twenty-first. 



178 BOYS* LIFE OF GKNERAL GRANT. 

Illinois would have failed to recognize in the well- 
drilled regiment, the disorderly mob that greeted their 
commander on the day of liis lirst visit to their camp 
at Springfield. 

The Twenty-First Illinois furnished a considerable 
number of officers out of its rank and file to its 
own and other regiments. Five of its captains and 
lieutenants became colonels, and one became a gen- 
eral. • 



GRANT A BRIGADIER-GENERAL. 179 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Grant becomes a brigadier-general. — Ordered to Ironton, Mo. — In 
command at Jefferson City. — State of affairs there. — The border 
States. — Grant goes to Cape Girardeau. — His staff-officers. — Pursu- 
ing Jeff Thompson. — Transferred to Cairo. — Captures Paducah, Ky. 
— Battle of Belmont. — Driving the rebels and driven by them. — 
Grant's narrow escape. — Intelligence of ahorse. — Losses at Belmont. 

Before the regiment started from the capital of 
Illinois for the field of warfare, President Lincoln 
had issued his second call for troops, this time for 
three hundred thousand men for three years. Illinois 
had put altogether thirty-six regiments in the field, 
and President Lincoln notified the senators and rep- 
resentatives of that State that he desired a nomi- 
nation of four brigadier-generals in the order of 
their rank. 

The Illinois congressional delegation held a meet- 
ing at once ; and when it was called to order, Wash- 
burne was the first to speak. He said that the 
north-west corner of the State had filled its quota 
promptly, and was entitled to a brigadier-general. 
He named Grant; and the nomination was accepted 
by the rest. Then followed the names of Hui'lbut, 
Prentiss, and McClernand, in tlie order in wliieh tliey 



180 boys' life of general grant. 

are recorded. Altogether on that daj^ from the various 
Northern States there were more than forty appoint- 
ments of brigadiers, Grant standing number seven- 
teen on the list. 

Grant had not been consulted in the matter, and 
knew nothing about it until one morning the chap- 
lain of the regiment brought him a St. Louis news- 
paper containing the announcement. He took it very 
unconcernedl}^, and remarked that he supposed it was 
Washburne's work, as was the case. The officers 
and soldiers of the Twenty-first Illinois were sorry 
to lose their colonel, and at the same time were 
very glad of his promotion. 

He remained with them until he received the offi- 
cial news of his promotion, and then proceeded to St. 
Louis as he had been directed. General Fremont was 
then commanding the department of ^lissouri, and 
the new brigadier reported to him at once. There 
was trouble in several parts of the State south of the 
line of the Missouri River, and troops were needed 
especially in the south-eastern portion. The Rebels 
Avere also threatening Jefferson Cit}^ the capital of 
the State ; and the commanding general remarked that 
he wished he could send General Grant in two di- 
rections at once. 

Grant's first instruction was to go to Ironton, in 
the south-east part of the State, to take command of 



GRANT IN MISSOURI. 181 

the district. General Hardee, a Confederate officer, 
was at Greenville, about twenty-five miles south of 
Iron ton, and was reported getting ready to advance 
northward. Three or four regiments of Missouri troops 
were at Ironton. They had been enlisted into the 
service for ninety days, and their time had expired. 
They had never received any uniforms, and were very 
much demoralized. Grant took with him several regi- 
ments, including the Twenty-first Illinois, which he 
had formally commanded ; and on reaching Ironton, he 
sent the ninety-day men back to St. Louis to be 
mustered out of the service. Then he fortified Ironton, 
and began preparations for attacking Hardee at Green- 
ville. 

Before his preparations were completed, a new com- 
mander, General Prentiss, came with orders from St. 
Louis to relieve Grant. He turned everything over 
to Prentiss, and took the evening train for St. Louis. 
The new commander of the district stopped all the 
preparations for attacking the Rebels in Greenville, 
and turned his attention to putting the post in good 
condition for defense. 

Grant was ordered at once to go to Jefferson City, 
where a good many troops had assembled, and take 
command there. Everything was in confusion ; and 
Grant found that the department commander, Gen- 
eral Fremont, had authorized men to raise regiments, 



182 boys' life of general grant. 

battiilions, or companies Avitli the promise that they 
should receive commissions according to the number 
of men thej^ obtained. By the laws of Congress then 
in force, all troops raised at that time were enlisted 
for not less than three years ; but the men then being 
gathered in Jefferson City wei'e enlisted in various 
ways, some for six months, some for a year, and some 
for two years. Some of tliem made the condition that 
the men they enlisted should not be sent out of the 
State, while others were to go wlierever wanted. Most 
of the volunteers they obtained were from the regi- 
ments then in the State capital. The men were de- 
serting from these regiments, and becoming new 
recruits, although they were already enlisted for three 
years. 

There was a degree of familiarity between officers 
and men in some of these new regiments that must 
have grated harshly on the nerves of a man of Grant's 
experience. While he was stopping for a moment 
near a colonel's tent, he saw the sentry who was on 
duty before it, pause suddenly in his pacing back 
and forth in front of it and then approach the open- 
ing in the tent. Then he placed his face close to 
the opening, and called out, — 

"John, give me a chaw of terbaker." 

Thus summoned, the colonel stepped to the fron^- 
of the tent and proffered the desired '' chaw." 



UNION REFTTGEES. 183 

One day while it was raining, another soldier Avho 
was on sentry duty sent to his colonel for an umbrella ! 

The city was full of Union refugees who had been 
driven from their homes by wandering bands of Rebels, 
and compelled to take shelter under guard of the 
Union troops. They were in a great state of des- 
titution, as 'they had fled hastily with their wives and 
children and with only such property as they could 
throw into their wagons, leaving everything else to 
be seized and stolen by their Rebel neighbors. They 
lived in their wagons, or in tents, or in any shelter 
they could find ; and if the Government had not sup- 
plied them with food, many would have died of star- 
vation. 

Even as it was, death caused great havoc among 
the women and children, and was by no means absent 
among the men. They had lost their homes solely 
because they sympathized with the Union. All over 
the State, and for the matter of that, all through the 
Southern States, the life of a Union man was not 
safe at that time. 

Generally speaking, the Union men in the entire 
State of Missouri, and throughout all the border States, 
were quiet and law-abiding, while those who sym- 
pathized with the South were aggressive, tyrannical, 
and law-defying. Bands of Rebel raiders were con- 
stantly moving about the country terrorizing the Union 



184 boys' life of general grant. 

inhabitants ; and in places where Unionists outnum- 
ered the Secessionists four to one, the latter were con- 
stantl}^ appealing to the Government for protection. 
Now and then there were cases where Unionists drove 
Secessionists from their homes ; but for one instance 
of this sort there were a hundred where the situation 
was just the reverse. 

General Grant stopped the recruiting in Jefferson 
City, and gave instructions that the immediate wants 
of the refugees should be supplied. He received 
orders to fit out an expedition to Lexington, Boone- 
ville, and some other towns, to take possession of the 
money in the banks and send it to St. Louis, in 
order to prevent its falling into the hands of the 
Rebels. It took him several days to get his troops in 
readiness, and gather the wagons necessary for transpor- 
tation purposes. The day before the one he had fixed 
for starting,^ he was relieved of his command by Col- 
onel Jefferson Davis, and ordered to report imme- 
diately at St. Louis for special orders. 

Colonel Davis arrived just one hour before the train 
was to start for St. Louis. General Grant hastily 
turned over everything to his successor, and started 
for St. Louis, leaving his staff-officer, Capt. C. B. 
Lagow, the only one that had yet reported for duty, 
to follow the next day with his personal baggage and 
the headquarters' material. On reaching St. Louis, he 



AT CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. 185 

went at once to department headquarters and obtained 
his special orders, which were to take command of the 
south-eastern district of Missouri, and proceed there 
the next day. 

Before leaving St. Louis he appointed Capt. W. S. 
Hillyer to his staff; and in the afternoon with his 
two officers he embarked on the steamer Louisiana 
for his destination. He had already invited John A. 
Rawlins, the young orator who has been mentioned 
elsewhere, to a position on his staff; but Rawlins had 
not yet arrived, though he came soon after, and joined 
his chief at his new headquarters. Hillyer and Lagow 
each remained for a year or more with General Grant; 
and Rawlins was with him all through the war, and 
until after Grant became President. He was secretary 
of war during Grant's first term as President, until 
his death in September, 1869. 

Grant's new post was at Cape Girardeau, Mo. ; and 
he had command of the whole of south-eastern Mis- 
souri and the southern part of Illinois. The journey 
from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau, at the time General 
Grant went to take his new command, is a memorable 
one for the author of this volume, as he was a 
passenger on the same steamer; and the occasion 
was the first on which he met General Grant, and 
formed an acquaintance which lasted many years. 
The author was then a correspondent of the Neiv 



186 boys' life of general grant. 

York Herald^ and in the afternoon on the way 
down the river he was introduced to the general. 
During the evening he wrote a letter describing the 
state of affairs in south-eastern Missouri, and closed it 
with an account of his interview with the new com- 
mander. It was the. first interview with General 
Grant, and the first descrij^tion of his personal ap- 
pearance, that ever appeared in any newspaper. The 
following is an extract from that letter: — 

" The general is decidedly unmartial in appearance, 
and would be the last man among the twenty occupants 
of the cabin who would be selected as superior officer 
of all. He is about fortj'-five years of age, not more 
than five feet eight inches in height, and of ordinary 
frame, with a slight tendency to corpulency. The ex- 
pression of his face is pleasant, and a smile is almost 
continually playing around his eyes . . . thus much I 
have said concerning him, as it is possible he may figure 
prominently in action before many weeks." 

The Rebel troops in south-east Missouri at that time 
were under the command of General Jeff Thompson. 
His first name was Jefferson. Naturally enough when 
he was a boy it had been abbreviated to "Jeff;" and 
the abbreviation adhered to him all through life, li 
any one had spoken of him as Jefferson Thompson, 
it is doubtful if the listener would have identified tlie 
individual intended ; but as "Jeff " he was known from 



MRS. SELVIDGE's PIE. 187 

one • end of the State of Missouri to tlie other. He 
was a very active partisan ranger, and a goodly number 
of expeditions for his capture were sent out unsuccess- 
fully. He was caught at last through over-confidence 
in his ability to keep out of the way of his pursuers. 

Grant went in pursuit of Thompson, but failed to 
catch him. On the march towards the place where 
Thompson was supposed to be, the advance was led 
by an Illinois lieutenant with eight mounted men. 
Provisions were scarce ; and at a house where he 
stopped to get something to eat the lieutenant thought 
that he could help matters along by announcing that 
he was General Grant and the men with him were his 
staff. He obtained a good meal for himself and party, 
and when he offered to settle was told that there was 
nothing to pay. 

When General Grant came along he was impressed 
by the appearance of the same house, and riding up 
to the fence in front he asked if they could cook him 
a meal. 

^'No," said a woman in a gruff voice; "General 
Grant and his staff have been here and eaten every- 
thing in the house except one pumpkin-pie." 

Grant smiled, and asked the woman what her name 
was. 

" Selvidge," was the reply. 

"Keep that pie till I send an officer for it," said 



188 boys' life of general grant. 

Grant, tossing a half-dollar over the fence, and then 
riding away. 

When camp was formed that evening, orders were 
issued for a grand parade at half-past six. At the 
time appointed the parade was formed, and the adju- 
tant-general read the following order: — 

Headquarters, Army in the Field, 

Sjjecial Order No. 

Lieutenant of the Illinois Cavalry, having on 

this day eaten everything in Mrs. Selvidge's house except 
one pumpkin-pie, Lieutenant is hereby ordered to re- 
turn with an escort of one hundred cavalry and eat that 

pie also. 

U. S. GRANT, 
Brig.-Gen. Commanding. 

After failing in his attempt to capture Thompson, 
Gi-ant moved his headquarters to Cairo, 111., where 
he relieved Colonel Oglesby. Grant Avas in citizen's 
dress, as his brigadier-general's uniform had not 
arrived, and Colonel Oglesby was a total stranger to 
him. When Grant entered Oglesby 's office, it was full 
of people from the region round about, and the colonel 
was quite busy listening to what they had to say. 
He did not catch the name of the new arrival, and 
was ver}" much surprised when Gi'ant sat down at the 
op}X)site side of his desk, took a sheet of paper, wrote 
out the order bv wliich he assumed command of the 



AT CAIRO, ILLINOIS. 189 

district of south-eastern Missouri, and appointed Colonel' 
Richard J. Oglesby to command the post at Bird's 
Point, which is on the Missouri shore opposite Cairo. 
He was still more surprised when Grant handed him 
the written sheet of paper, and looked around as if 
he would like to have some one vouch for the writer 
thereof. But the colonel regained his self-possession, 
and turned the post over to his successor. 

The new appointment gave Grant plenty of occu- 
pation. The very next day he learned from reliable 
sources of information that the Rebels had sent an 
expedition from Columbus, Ky., twenty miles below 
Cairo, to take possession of Paducah in the same 
State, about fifty miles up the Ohio River. Grant 
immediately telegraphed the information to General 
Fremont, and said that unless he received orders to 
the contrary, he should take possession of Paducah 
at once. There were plenty of steamboats at Cairo; 
and he immediately ordered troops on board of them, 
and also ordered the boats to get up steam. 

Hearing nothing from headquarters at St. Louis, 
he started at midnight, reached Paducah at daybreak, 
and took possession of the town. The very time 
that he did so, the Rebel troops which had marched 
overland from Columbus Avere within ten miles of 
Paducah. Citizens in sympathy with the Rebels im- 
mediately went out to inform the latter that the 
Yankees were in possession of the town. 



190 boys' life of general grant. 

It was a great surprise and disappointment to the 
Rebels, as they intended to fortify the place, and cut 
off completely the navigation of the Ohio River. 
Grant's quick movement spoiled their plans, and 
there was nothing for them to do but go back to 
Columbus. The general commanding the Rebels had 
come in advance of his column, and was actually 
at one side of tlie town while the national troops 
were entering at the other. 

The people of Paducah were generally in sympathy 
with the Rebels, and had been told that they would 
be slaughtered if the Yankees came to the place. 
Consequently there was the wildest excitement when 
the first of the Northern regiments stepped upon the 
landing; and many citizens fled to the surrounding 
hills vrith their wives and children, leaving their 
houses to the mercy of the dreaded invaders. Others 
watched and waited, intending to run away as soon 
as the murdering began. They were very much sur- 
prised to find the Northern troops well behaved and 
orderly, and concluded not to flee immediately. 

During the day General Grant issued a printed 
proclamation, assuring the people that their lives and 
property were safe, and advising them to remain 
peaceably at their homes. He told them they could 
continue their usual occupation without any hin- 
drance whatever, providing they held no communica- 



A NARROW ESCAPE. 191 

tion with the enemy, and offered no affronts to the 
troops then protecting the town. Copies of this 
proclamation soon found their way to those who had 
fled; and within a day or so nearly every inhabitant 
of Paducah was again at his home. 

Some of the men, however, would not trust them- 
selves in the hands of the invaders, or consent to 
live under the national flag. They drifted away to 
the South ; and such of them as were suited to a 
soldiei''s life were very soon enrolled among the Rebel 
forces at Columbus. Having taken possession of 
Paducali and quieted the inhabitants. General Grant 
ordered that it be strongly fortified, and then re- 
turned to Cairo. 

About that time General Fremont made arrange- 
ments for the exchange of some prisoners, — princi- 
pally inhabitants of St. Louis who had been captured 
at Camp Jackson in the early part of the preced- 
ing May ; and General Grant was ordered to allow 
them to go south through his lines whenever they 
appeared with the proper passes from department 
headquarters. He was personally acquainted with 
many of these men, and usually had a pleasant word 
with them for old acquaintance sake. 

One day while Major Barrett, one of the exchanged 
prisoners, was in his office, something was said by the 
general to one of his aids about going the next day 



192 boys' life of general ghant. 

to Cai^e Girardeau, to inspect the troops there. For 
some reason the general did not go ; but when the 
steamboat on which he had expected to go was 
ascending the Mississippi River in the direction of 
Cape Girardeau, a Rebel battery opened fire on it 
from the Missouri shore, and compelled it to make 
a landing. As it did so, this same Major Barrett 
with a squad of Rebels came on board, and searched 
tlie steamer through and through to find General 
Grant. It was very difficult to satisfy him that the 
general was not on board; but when convinced that 
such was the case he immediately went ashore with 
his men, and allowed the boat to proceed on its 
course. After that incident General Grant Avas very 
careful as to what he said in the presence of any of those 
Rebel tourists on their way southward from St. Louis. 
The strength of the forces at Cairo was increased 
as new regiments arrived from the North ; and by 
the 1st of November General Grant had fully twenty 
thousand men at his immediate command, in addi- 
tion to the garrisons of Paducah, Bird's Point, and 
the river stations above. Soon after taking Paducah 
he asked to be permitted to make a move against 
Columbus ; but before November began the Rebels 
had fortified it so strongly that it could not have 
been taken without a long siege and a larger army 
than he was then able to bring against it. 



MOVEMENT UPON COEUMBUS. 



198 



The Rebels had at Columbus quite as many men 
as Grant had at Cairo; and the information came 
that they were about to send several steamboats laden 
with troops by way of the Mississippi and St. Francis 
Rivers to reinforce General Sterling Price, who was 
said to be advancing northward in the direction of Lex- 
ington and Jefferson City. General Fremont desired 
to detain these Rebel troops in Columbus, and ordered 
General Grant to make demonstrations that would 
carry out this object. Accordingly, General Grant 
prepared an expedition to go down the river and 
threaten Columbus in front, and at the same time 
he ordered General Smith, who was in command at 
Paducah, to move out all the troops he could spare 
to within a few miles of Columbus, and there stop 
and await orders. 

General Smith obeyed the command, and the move- 
ments were so exactly timed that he left Paducah at 
nearly the same instant that Grant's fleet steamed 
away from Cairo in the direction of Columbus. The 
troops were greatly elated that they had something 
to do. They had chafed for what seemed a long time 
in idleness, and the only unhappy ones at Cairo when 
the expedition started were those who were left behind. 
Everybody believed that the first battle for the posses- 
sion of the great river from Cairo to the Gulf was about 
to be fought. 



194 boys' life of oeneral grant. 

Here we may remark that the people of tlie North- 
west were determined to regain possession of the 
great water-way which leads southwards to the Gulf 
of Mexico. Had the Rehels left tlie ^Mississippi open 
to navigation, it would have been far more difficult to 
rouse the North-western people to the high pitch of 
excitement they had reached than it was. In one of 
his eloquent speeches made at the outbreak of the war, 
General Logan voiced the general sentiment when he 
said the men of the North-west would hew their way 
to the Gulf of Mexico w'nh. their swords. The great 
cry through all the valley of the Mississippi, above its 
junction with the Ohio, was that neither the mouth nor 
the base of the great river m.ust be under the direction 
of any other Government than our own. 

The soldiers were greatly elated when they found 
that there was the prospect of a battle ; and they cheered 
loudly as the five transports on which they were em- 
barked steamed away from the landing-place at Cairo, 
preceded by two gunboats belonging to the naval 
squadron of Admiral Foote. When Grant started from 
Cairo, it was not his intention to bring on a battle, but 
to simply make a feint that would cause the Rebels to 
keep their troops in Columbus and not send them away 
to reinforce Price in Missouri ; but he saw that the 
soldiers would be greatly disappointed if they had no 
opportunity to smell powder after lying idle so long, 



BATTLE OF BELMONT. 195 

and so he modified his plan. His original intention 
was to land on the Kentucky shore three or four miles 
above Columbus, establish communication with Geiieral 
Smith's troops that had marched out from Paducah, 
and, after making a movement as if to attack Columbus, 
return to the boats, re-embark his troops, and go back 
to Cairo. On thinking it over, he realized that liis men 
would consider him timid and perhaps cowardly, while 
the Rebels would be correspondingly elated at their 
success in frightening the Northern troops away. 

He carried out the first part of his plan; and then, 
instead of going back to Cairo after re-embarking the 
troops, he crossed over to the Missouri side of the river, 
and landed his whole force of about three thousand men 
with tw^o pieces of artillery. He made a landing at a 
point about three miles above Belmont, which is oppo- 
site Columbus, and contained a Confederate camp with 
about two thousand men and six pieces of artillery. 
The landing was made immediately after daybreak on 
the 7th of November, and in front of a cornfield. 

There were several fields and small clearings between 
the point Avhere the troops landed and the Confederate 
camp at Belmont; but the most of the ground was 
covered with a natural forest. A battalion of infantry 
was left near the shore to protect the transports, while 
the rest of the expedition, about twenty-five Imndred 
strong, started in the direction of Belmont. For 



196 boys' life of general grant. 

nearly two miles they were not opposed ; but as soon as 
the enemy discovered their movements they sent out 
troops to meet the Northerners. 

Then the fighting began in earnest. None of Grant's 
troops had been in battle ; and it is safe to say that not 
a hundred altogether, officers and men included, had 
ever heard a hostile shot fired; but they all stood up 
like veterans, and won the admiration of their com- 
mander. In his official report he praised their coolness 
and steadiness, and pronounced them fully equal to 
regular troops. 

Gradually the Rebels fell back to their camp, fighting 
all the way. The Union advance was so slow that it 
took four hours of fighting to reach the camp. The 
Rebels ^vere driven through their camp, and down be- 
neath the bank of the river, where they were safe from 
the Union fire. As soon as the Union troops were in 
possession of the camp, they fell to plundering, and 
became disorganized; and we regret to say that not a 
few of the officers joined the soldiers in ransacking the 
tents for what they contained. If a prompt demand 
had been made upon the Rebels below the bank, they 
would have surrendered; but nobody seems to have 
thought of , that. 

Tlie battlefield of Belmont was in full view of 
Columbus. The ground was higli at Columbus, the 
bluff risinof to nearlv two hundred feet ; while Belmont 



AN A^YKWAUD PREDTOAMENT. 197 

is on the low bottom land of the Mississippi vallej. 
General Polk was in command at Columbus, and sent 
over General Pillow with three steamboat loads of 
troops to reinforce those who had been defending 
Belmont. 

Finding they were not pursued, the Rebels who were 
crouching behind the banks gathered fresh courage, 
and worked their way along below the bank in the direc- 
tion of Grant's transports, doubtless with the intention 
of capturing them, or setting them on fire. They sud- 
denly appeared between the boats and the Union 
troops. Grant had already given orders to retire to the 
boats, but the men were so busy with their plundering 
that they paid no attention to the orders. He then told 
his staff to set fire to the camp, and at the same time 
tell the men that they were surrounded by the enemy. 
The two things together had the desired effect. The 
plundering stopped at once, and the men obeyed 
their officers. One of the latter said, — 

"General, we're surrounded ; what shall we do now? " 
" Well," replied the general, " we cut our way down 
here from the boats, and we must cut our way back 
again." 

"That's so," replied the officer with a sigh of relief^ 
"and we'll do it too." 

Meantime the Rebel forces that had crossed over from 
Columbus had made a landing, and were nearer to 



198 boys' life of general grant. 

Grant's boats than his own troops were. But the 
Northerners fought desperately, holding the enemy 
in check, and cutting their way back to the transports. 
Grant had relied upon the enemy first encountering 
the guard that he placed for the protection of the boats. 
As he neared the place where he left them, lie was 
very much surprised to find that tlie guard had been 
withdraw^n, and there was not a soldier at the position 
where the battalion had been posted. Going to the 
])oats. he found the officer who commanded the guard, 
and upbraided him severely for his conduct. If the 
enemy had known the state of affairs they could have 
captured or destroyed the transports without trouble. 

At length all the troops were embarked ; and the 
wounded, who had been first taken to the houses close 
by, were carried on board the boats. General Grant 
was the last man to leave the shore. He had ridden 
out into the cornfield with Captain Rawlins to find 
the position of the enemy. The cornstalks were so 
high that men on horseback could hardly see over 
them, and they quite concealed a man on foot. Sud- 
denly General Grant caught sight of a body of 
marching troops not more than fifty yards away, and 
moving at that moment parallel to tlie river and in 
about the same direction that he was going. In a 
low voice he told Rawlins to go in the direction of the 
transports, but to keep at a walk until he got out 



grant's narrow escape. 199 



111- 



of sight of the enemy. Rawlins obeyed the 
structions, and moved quietly away. Grant's uniform 
was concealed by a common army overcoat such as the 
soldiers wear ; and it was this circumstance that saved 
his life. It afterwards turned out that General 
Polk with two of his staff-officers were riding at the 
head of the column which Grant saw ; and the general 
said to his men, — 

"There's a Yank; you can try your skill on him 
if you like." 

Nobody seemed to think it worth his while to take 
a shot at the common Yankee soldier, as he appeared 
to be; and so the commander escaped. 

Rawlins reached the boats three or four minutes in 
advance of the general ; and as he went on board, the 
gang-plank was drawn in, and the steamer moved away. 
Grant reached the river at a point a little lower down, 
where another boat was lying ; this also had got ready 
to start, her plank being in, and her wheels turning. 
Somebody recognized the general, and told the captain 
of the boat. The latter swung her up to the shore 
again, and put out a single plank. 

The intelligence of a horse this time saved the 
commander-in-chief. The Mississippi River is usually 
very low in November ; and on the day of the battle 
of Belmont it was eight or ten feet below the bank, 
which at that time was a good deal steeper than the 



200 boys' life of general grant. 

roof of an ordinary house. Grant's horse took in the 
situation at once. He brought his feet together, slid 
down the bank, and trotted on board the boat on a 
single plank, about fifteen inches wide, which had been 
run out for his accommodation. 

By the time the boats got away, the Rebels reached 
the bank of the river and fired heavy volleys at the 
departing transports. They were so high up that 
nearly all the shots went above the soldiers' heads. 
Nobody on the transports was killed, and only three 
were wounded. The gunboats at this time opened 
fire on the Confederates, and did some execution; 
and the soldiers on the transports kept up an active 
fusillade as long as they were in range. 

The Union loss at Belmont w^as four hundred and 
eighty-five in killed, wounded, and missing ; and more 
than one hundred of the wounded fell into the hands 
of the enemy. Our troops brought away two hundred 
prisoners and two guns, and spiked four other guns. 
The object of the battle was fully accomplished, as the 
Rebels did not send away any troops from Columbus. 
Both sides claimed a victory ; and so far as the fighting 
was concerned the Rebels had the better reason to do 
so, as they held the ground after the battle. Their 
loss, according to the official reports, was between six 
and seven hundred ; and the battle carried mourning 
into many Southern families. 




Siege up Vicksburg. 



FREMONT AND HALLECK. 201 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Fremont superseded by Halleck. — Characteristics of the two men.— 
Fre'mont's march to the South-west. — His imaginary foe. — Retreat 
to Rolla. — Grant at Cairo. —His annoyances. — Fugitive slaves, and 
how they were dealt with. — Union sentiment in the border States. — 
Winter of 1861-G2. — Buell at Bowling Green and Mill Springs. — 
Movements against Forts Henry and Douelson.— Capture of Fort 
Henry, and investment of Donelson. — A woman's tongue, and what 
came of it. 

After the battle of Belmont, there was a period 
of comparative idleness. Two days after the battle 
General Fi-^mont was removed, and the command of 
the Department of the Missouri was given to Gen- 
eral Halleck. General Fremont was in command 
just one hundred days. He was very fond of dis- 
play ; and although possessed of many natural abil- 
ities, he was not calculated to inspire respect as a 
military commander. After giving general directions 
to Grant at Cairo and other commanders, he went 
in person at the head of an army about ten thou- 
sand strong, to the South-west, which he penetrated 
as far as Springfield. His body-guard made a gallant 
dash at the last named place, and drove out the 
small garrison that was holding the town. Fre- 
mont's scouts reported that a large army was ad- 



202 boys' life of general grant. 

vancing from the Soutli-west; and, aocording to their 
story, it was encamped on the banks of Wilson 
Creek, ten miles south of Springfield. Orders were 
issued for the army to advance and meet the enemy 
on the following day; but during the night follow- 
ing the issuance of the orders, General Hunter ar- 
rived to relieve General Fremont. 

The troops did not march out on the following 
day, the order for their movement having been coun- 
termanded at once. A squad of cavalry was sent, 
however, and revealed the fact that there was no 
enemy whatever at Wilson Creek, nor was there any 
within fifty miles of that place. It was fortunate 
for General Fremont's reputation that he was re- 
lieved from the command at the time he was. Had 
he gone out as he proposed, he would have made 
himself a laughing-stock from one end of the country 
to the other, and recalled to the minds of many, 
the old couplet : — 

" The King of France with twice ten thousand men 
Marched up the hill, and then marched down again." 

General Hunter ordered the army, lately under 
General Fi-emont, to return, partly to the railway 
terminus at RoUa, and partly to the line of the 
Missouri River. Winter was coming on ; and the 
army all along the line, from the western part of 



PREPARING TO ADVANCE. 203 

Missouri to the foot of the Alleghanies, went into 
a condition of inactivity. Though inactive, it was 
not idle, as it was occupied with preparations for a 
general advance in the spring. The war depart- 
ment had decided upon a simultaneous movement; 
but of course the scheme was kept as secret as pos- 
sible. Even department commanders received no 
information beyond what w^as needed for their own 
special instruction. Wagons, mules, horses, and other 
transportation material w^ere accumulated in large 
quantities. Great supplies of small arms and am- 
munition were stored away and ready for use, and 
large contracts were made for provisions of various 
kinds. This was not only at one point, but at sev- 
eral points ; and the army contractor was exceedingly 
busy in the land. 

Grant was greatly annoyed by the contractors who 
hung around Cairo, and were constantly asking for 
contracts by which their pockets miglit be lined 
with money. Some were honest, but the majoiity 
were the reverse; and they had varying degrees of 
dishonesty, from petty deception up to the most un- 
blushing rascality. Many did not hesitate to ap- 
proach the general with proposals to interest him in 
their speculations. All men of that sort were imme- 
diately ordered out of Cairo, and were told that if 
they returned again tliey would be impressed into 



204 

the ranks. Grant was exceedingly careful in keeping 
his name above suspicion ; and the same was the case 
with the officers of his staff. 

On one occasion a relative of his, who had made 
a bid for suppl}dng a large quantity of harness, came 
to Grant, and asked him to make a favorable in- 
dorsement upon his proposal, and gave as his reason 
for doing so the fact of their relationship. Grant 
took the paper, and indorsed upon it : — 

'• This man is my cousin, and I do not wish that he 
should have this contract at any price." 

The speculators and. would-be contractors found 
that it was impossible to obtain General Gi-ant's favor 
by proposals of a dishonorable character, and they 
took their revenge by circulating infamous stories 
about him. They said he drank heavily, and was 
frequently very much intoxicated ; that he neglected 
his duties, and had it not been- for the staff -officers, 
the whole department would be in a demoralized 
condition. The reports reached Washington; and they 
became so numerous that Congressman Washburne 
wrote to Major Rawlins, Grant's chief of staff, ask- 
ing if there was as much as a grain of truth in 
them. Rawlins replied that the only possible grain 
of truth in the whole story was that one day when 
Grant was suffering from a chill he took a glass of 



GRANT S INEBRIETY. 205 

wine by order of the doctor; on no other occiision 
had he taken a drop of anything, spirituous or vi- 
nous. Before closing the letter, he handed it to Gen- 
eral Grant along with Washburne's query. The latter 
read both letters, and then said, — 

^'Send it along by all means; and you can add 
that whenever you see me doing anything wrong, 
you will notify him at once. Your interest in the 
Union cause should be far above any personal friend- 
ship for me." 

Several times during the war, stories of Grant's in- 
ebriation were circulated, and almost invariably they 
came from disaj^pointed speculators. 

Another great annoyance to General Grant was 
the difficulty of dealing with fugitive slaves wlio 
made their way into the camp. No positive order 
had been issued concerning their treatment by the 
department at Washington, and consequently it was 
left to the local commanders to deal with the matter 
as they thought best. General Butler quite early 
in the war had harbored fugitive negroes in his 
camp ; and it was he who gave the name " contra- 
band " to the runaway slave. General Fremont's 
sympathies were decidedly of an anti-slavery charac- 
ter, and there was no danger that he would send 
back any fugitive slave who got within liis lines; 
but wlien General Halleck came into comniand he 



206 boys' life of general grant. 

issued the fiimous, or rather infamous, •• Order No. 3, 
which said that fugitive slaves who were allowed in 
our camps carried information to the enemy. Con- 
sequently, Halleck ordered their expulsion and abso- 
lute exclusion from our military stations. 

The lower House of Congress had already passed 
a resolution to the effect that it was no part of the 
duty of American soldiers to capture and return fu- 
gitive slaves. Halleck 's order was in direct defiance 
of this resolution of Congress, and the ground on 
which he based his order for the expulsion of refu- 
gee negroes was a false one. There may have been 
an occasional instance where fugitive slaves cariied 
information to the enemy ; but for every such in- 
stance there were a hundred in which they brought 
information from the enemy to the Union side. The 
negroes all over the slave States had a pretty clear 
understanding of the state of affairs, and they recog- 
nized that the South was fighting for the mainte- 
nance of shivery, and the North for its destruction. 
They were ignorant, and their ideas were more or 
less crude, and often absurd; but their general under- 
standing of the situation was rarely wrong. 

General Halleck established the rule that where 
the masters of runaway negroes were serving in the 
Rebel army, or the negroes had Ix^en working upon 
Rebel fortifications, they need not be sent back. 



XEGUOKS IX THE CAMPS. 207 

Veiy speedily this rule became known ; iuul from that 
time on, everj- negro who came into our lines, when 
taken to headquarters and questioned, would answer 
immediately that his master was in the Kebel array, 
and he himself had worked upon the fortifications. 
As the Union officers were almost always in sympathy 
with the runaway, lie was rarely questioned any fur- 
ther, but allowed to go where he pleased. 

There was considerable Union sentiment in the 
border slave States, and a good many slaveholders 
were in the ranks of the Union army, llien there 
were a good many Union men who stayed at home, 
and often gave valuable information to the Union 
commanders concerning JJebel movements. There 
was one old Kentuckian, named Mercer, who had 
been imprisoned as a Unionist by the Rebels at Co- 
lumbus, and who had lepeatedly given valuable in- 
formation to General Grant. Several of his neo-roes 
strayed away, and he suspected they were in the 
Union camp opposite Cairo; but when he went there 
to search for tliem, he was arrested as a spy. The 
matter was called to General Grant's attention; and- 
after a careful investigation of the matter, he gave 
orders for tlie return of the negroes, on the ground 
of the entire loyalty of their owner, and also be- 
cause of Halleck's '' General Order No. 3." The 
negroes were given up; but they did not stay long 



208 boys' life of general grant. 

at home. They took good care not to enter the 
military camp again, and they were not arrested. 

A few days after the Mercer affair, a similar case 
came up, with the difference that tlie owner in search 
of runaway slaves was a Rebel sympathizer. In this 
case Grant decided that the man who bad given aid 
and comfort to the enemy had no right to come 
within our lines for any purpose whatever, and 
therefore he could not be permitted to do so to find 
runaway negroes. 

The winter of 1861-62 wore on without any mili- 
tary movement of consequence, but with plenty of 
occupation, such as we have mentioned, to keep Gen- 
eral Grant's joints from rusting. During the winter 
he went out into Kentucky with an expedition to 
threaten Columbus on the one hand, and Fort Henry 
on the bank of the Tennessee River on the other. 
The enemy was tlien occupying a line from the Mis- 
sissippi River at Columbus to Bowling Green and 
Mill Springs in Kentucky. They had strong fortifica- 
tions at these points, and also on the Cumberland 
and Tennessee Rivers near the State line, between 
Kentucky and Tennessee. 

General Buell commanded the Department of tlie 
Ohio, with lieadquai'ters at Louisville ; and opposed to 
him was General Buckner with a large Confederate 
force at Bowling Green. General Buell was prepar- 



MOVEMENT ON FORT HENRY. 209 

ing to attack General Buckiier, and rumors came 
that reinforcements Avere to be sent from Columbus 
to Bowling Green. General Grant was ordered to 
make an expedition into Kentucky, as though it Avas 
a movement upon Columbus and also upon Fort 
Henry, but really a feint to prevent reinforcements 
going to Buckner. 

Accordingly he set out in the direction of the 
Tennessee River with all the trooj^s that could be 
spared from Paducah, and about ten thousand men 
from his own command to Cairo. A great deal of 
noise was made about the movement, the newspaper 
correspondents being allowed to telegraph as much 
as they pleased concerning it, and the most of them 
accompanying the expedition as it moved away. It 
was about the middle of January, the roads being in 
a wretched condition and the weather atrocious. Rain 
was falling for the greater part of the time. The 
soldiers came back from the expedition very much 
wearied and disgusted, as they had gone through 
some very rough experiences, and in not a single 
instance had they come in contact with the enemy. 

But more active times were coming. General 
Grant repeatedly asked of General Halleck to be 
permitted to make an attack upon Foit Henry, a 
strong fortification on the bank of the Tennessee 
River, about fifty miles from its mouth. It had a gar- 



210 BOYS* LIFE OF GENEIJAL GRANT. 

rison of about three thonsaiid Confederate soldiers, 
and was well equipped with artillery. General Grant 
believed that Admiral Foote's gunboats could silence 
its guns, and that he with a land force could then 
take possession of the fort from the rear. Halleck, 
acting under orders from tlie war department, de- 
clined the permission to move upon Fort Henry, very 
much to Grant's chagrin. Of course the department 
was waiting for the time of the general advance, and 
did not wish anything premature in the movements 
of au}^ part of the army. 

Finally, on the 1st of February, instructions came 
for Grant to move upon Fort Henr\^ ; and the expedi- 
tion started the next day. Grant had seventeen 
thousand men to take up the river, but there were 
not enough transports at Cairo to carry them all at 
one time. He was accompanied by Admiral Foote's 
gunboat fleet, but of course the gunboats had no 
room for carrying troops. 

Something more than half the force was sent for- 
ward under General McClernand, followed in a later 
boat by General Grant. The troops were landed 
about nine miles below Fort Henry, and then the 
boats were sent back to bring up the others. By 
the evening of the 5th of February most of the 
troops were up, and the others were on their wa^^ 
At daylight on the 6th, tlie movement began, the 



CAPTURR OF FORT HENRY. 211 

plan being for the gunboats and troops to start at 
the same moment. The troops were to surround the 
fort in the rear, while the gunboats were to attack it 
in the front. The fort contained seventeen heavy 
guns. There were seven boats in the gunboat fleet, 
and their weight of metal was greater than that of 
the fort; but of course the fort had a great advan- 
tage over the fleet, as the latter might be sunk, while 
the former could not. 

The boats engaged the fort with great vigor, and 
an hour and a quarter after the first gun was fired 
the flag was lowered, and the lighting ceased. 
Grant's troops were delayed considerably in cutting 
their way through - the thick underbrush and the 
obstructions which had been placed to impede them, 
and did not arrive in time to secure all the garri- 
son. The Rebel infantry escaped, and fled across the 
strip of land between the Tennessee and Cumberland 
Rivers to Fort DSnelson. At the points where the 
two forts were placed, the rivers are within twelve 
miles of each other; and as the Union troops had 
not had time to secure the road, the infantry regi- 
ments got safely away to Fort Donelson. General 
Lloyd Tilghman and his staff, with sixty artillerists, 
were the only prisoners who were taken at the 
fort. 

It was evident that the garrison had fled in great 



212 boys' life of general grant. 

haste, as it left nearly all of its camp equipage be- 
hind. The camp-fires were burning, kettles were boil- 
ing, and preparations for breakfast or dinner were in 
full blast. Letters, books, and packs of cards were 
scattered about, and there were pans of bread half- 
mixed, and dishes of half-prepared vegetables and 
other eatable things. Our soldiers did not allow 
these good things to go to waste ; they were hungry 
after their struggle through the fields and forests be- 
tween the fort and their landing-place, and they 
speedily satisfied their ap})etites as far as the Rebel 
provisions allowed them to do so. Some of our sol- 
diers donned the Rebel clothing which they found in 
the camp, and made themselves merry as well as the 
limited facilities would allow. 

The loss of life was very small at Fort Henry, 
the fight being entirely one of artillery. It might 
have been a great deal worse had it not been for a 
woman's tongue; and this is the story as it was told 
at the time : — 

When the troops accompanied by the gunboats 
landed at the point mentioned below Fort Henry, a 
woman came out of a house close by, and uttered 
a series of savage imprecations concerning the Yan- 
kee invaders. She was exceedingly bitter in her 
views; and, as one of the officers said, ''her tongue 
ran on as if it \yould never stop." After reviling 



WORK OF A WOMAN S TONGUE 213 

the Yankee to her heart's content, she wound up in 
about these words : — 

"There's one good thing about it, you'll all be 
blown sky-high when you go up there to the fort." 

"No, I guess we won't," replied one of the offi- 
cers. "There's nothing to blow us up except your 
tongue." 

" Yes, there is ; and you'll find it too. Our folks 
has a lot of torpedoes in the river, and I'm going to 
see you blown sky-high with 'em too." 

*' Thank you, madam," said the officer. "We are 
very much obliged to you for the information." 

"Well, I reckon I've been talking too much," said 
the woman ; and with that she went into the house 
and was not again seen. 

The hint was taken, and the river searched for 
torpedoes. Sure enough, the gunboats found that 
the river in the neighborhood of the fort had been 
pretty Avell paved with them, and it took all the 
rest of the day to find the torpedoes and fish them 
up as far as the range of the guns of the fort. 
Later, as the battle began, the boats moved cauti- 
ously, and not one of them was injured by a torpedo. 
It is proper to add that a negro who had witnessed 
the placing of the torpedoes was of great service to 
Admiral Foote in pointing out their location. 

Fort Henry having been taken, there was an unob- 



214 boys' ]jfe of genp:ral grant. 

structed way for boats ii}) the Tennessee River to 
the head of navigation on that stream ; but it would 
not answer to joroceed fur up the river, and leave 
Fort Donelson in the possession of the enemy. Part 
of the gunboat fleet ascended the river and destroyed 
the bridge of the Mobile and Ohio Railway by request 
of General Grant. 

General .Grant's next move was for the capture of 
Fort Donelson, which had a sti'ong garrison consisting 
of nearly twenty thousand men, with sixty-live pieces 
of artillery. The fort covered about one hundred 
acres of ground, and was a ver}^ strong position. 
Grant realized that it was necessary to move as 
quickly as possible before reinforcements arrived at 
the fort, as the Rebels would be sure to send them 
when they heard of the fall of Fort Henry. 

His plan was to march the troops forward, and 
invest the fort in the rear, while the gunboats went 
around in front and made a simultaneous attack. 
He sent to Cairo for reinforcements to join him, so 
that his strength might be at least equal to that 
of the enemy. It may be said to be a rule of mili- 
tary warfare, that when a fort is to be taken the 
attackintr force must be far more numerous than the 
defending one ; but here was Grant planning to cap- 
ture a fortification with an army one third less than 
tliat of his enemy ! 



ATTACKING DOXKLSON. 215 

It had rained heavily, and the j-oads between the 
two rivers were j^i'actically impassable. Grant waited 
several days for the waters to subside and the roads 
to get into condition, so that the artillery and 
wagons could move; and finally, on the 12th of 
February, such a state of affairs was reached. On 
the morning of the 12th the expedition started ; and 
before noon the Rebel pickets had been driven in 
by the Union advance, and by the end of the day 
the fort had been completely invested on the land 
side. The weather became cold, the thermometer 
fell to ten degrees above zero, and the soldiers were 
mostly without tents, and many of them witliout 
blankets. Many of the men were frost-bitten, and 
some died of exposure. There was considerable skir- 
mishing on Thursday, but no severe battle. The 
greatest sufferers were the wounded wlio were lying 
between the contending lines and could not be 
reached by either. 

On the morning of Friday the 14tli, i-einforce- 
ments arrived under General Lew Wallace, so that 
Grant's forces were about equal to tliose of the 
enemy. The gunboats came ; and in the afternoon 
the attack upon tlie fort began. 

The position Avas found to be very mucli stronger 
than that of Fort Henry. General Grant suo-o-ested 
that the gunboats should run past the batteries, and 



216 boys" life of gfnkhal ouaxt. 

by getting behind them, compel the evacuation of 
the fort ; but Admiral Foote declined to do so, as 
he thought the risk too great. That was before 
the lessons of New Orleans and Mobile, which taught 
us with how little risk steam gunboats may run past 
powerful batteries. Had Admiral Foote known this, 
he would no doubt have complied with Grant's 
request, as a braver man than he never served in 
any navy. 

The batteries of Fort Henry were almost level 
with the w^ater; but those of Donelson were on a 
bluff, thirty or forty feet high. The battle between 
the fort and the gunboats was much to the disad- 
vantage of the latter. After the boats had been 
under fire an hour and a half, Admiral Foote had 
only twelve serviceable guns remaining in his whole 
fleet. His flag-ship had been struck fifty-nine times, 
and all his other boats had received from twenty 
to thirty shots apiece. It was evident that the 
fleet could do no more fighting at present; and 
Admiral Foote sent word to General Grant that 
the boats would have to go back to Cairo for repairs. 

Admiral Foote sent a note to General Grant early 
on Saturday morning, saying that he had been 
wounded, not very severely, but so badly that he 
was unable to walk ; and he begged that the General 
would come on board the o-unboat. Grant started, 



THE REBELS REPULSED. 217 

and just as he reached the flag-ship he heard the 
sound of heavy firing on the right of his line of 
troops. He had a brief interview with the admiral, 
and then hurried back at full gallop to the scene of 
the fighting. The Rebels had massed heavily on 
Giant's right, opposite McClernand's division, and a 
fierce battle was going on. McClernand's men were 
resisting with great earnestness, and the battle lasted 
nearly four hours. The right wing and the right 
center were driven back a considerable distance ; and 
if the Rebels had known it, they could have cut 
their way through. Part of a regiment of Illinois 
cavalry was drawn up in the road, but with no sup- 
port on either side. As the ground was wooded, the 
Rebels could not see that the cavalry was unsup- 
ported ; and, as they were wearied with their long 
fighting, they came to a halt, and then fell back to 
the fort. Only a little more effort would have 
carried them through our lines. 



218 boys" life of general gkant. 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Rebels make a sortie from Donel son. — Repulsed at a decisive mo- 
ment. — Grant's discovery. — Three days' rations in haversacks. — 
Grant's movements on the battlefield. —Terrible weather for cam- 
paigning. —John li. Floyd and his escape. — General Pillow.— 
Buckners tlag of truce and his proposal. —Grant's reply. — The 
surrender. — Excitement in the North, and gloom at the South. — 
Losses at Donelson. 

It was nine o'clock when Grant got back to the 
battlefield, and the fighting had been momentarily sus- 
pended. Finding that the enemy was heavily massed 
on his (Grant's) right, the general concluded that 
the best thing- to do was to make an attack on the left. 
While he was conversing with General McClernand 
about it, and making plans for the attack, he heard 
one of his body-guard say, — 

''The Rebels have come out to make a long fight of 
it. They've got three days' rations in their haver- 
sacks." 

''What's that?" said Grant, turning quickly. The 
soldier saluted, and replied, — 

"I was just sayin'. General, that the Rebs were out 
for a long fight, and they've got their haversacks full 
of grub." 

"Let me see one," said the general. 



gra:nt"s discovery. 219 

The soldier went away, and returned in a few 
minutes with an empty haversack wliicli he handed to 
General Grant, and said, — 

'' That haversack had three days' rations in it, but 
the boys has eat it all up." 

Just then a group of Rebel prisoners marched past 
on its way to the rear. Grant stopped them, and told 
his staff-officer to examine their haversacks. He did 
so, and found three days' rations in each of them. 

When he learned tliis. Grant showed more excite- 
ment than at any previous moment during the light. 
He said, with great earnestness, — 

" Men in a fort do not come out with three .days' 
rations unless they intend to get away. Buckner's 
intention is to cut his way through and escape. We'll 
go in and win now." 

Grant immediately proceeded to make arrangements 
for an assault. He ordered McClernand and Wallace 
to be ready to attack wlien they heard the report of 
Smith's guns on the left; and he sent word to Admiral 
Foote to move up his gunboats and make a sliow of 
attacking, even though he didn't fire a shot. He 
galloped about from one end of the field to the other, 
and soon received word that Foote would comply with 
his wishes, and do the best he could with the gunboats. 

By four o'clock everything was ready, and the attack 
was made all along the line, the men going in with a 



220 boys' life of general grant. 

dash. The gunboats fired at long range, and on land 
the artillery poured a heavy fire into the fort. When 
the right moment came, the artillery fire stopped, and 
the infantry of Smith's division made a charge, and 
after severe liand- to-hand figliting, gained possession 
of a corner of the fort. The fig^ht ended with the 
darkness ; and the Union forces held all the positions 
they had gained. 

Grant and his staff slept that night in a negro 
shanty on tlie left of the line of attack. Grant was 
cheerful to the point of elation, and said he thought 
the fort was as good as captured. ''We may have," 
said he, " an hour or so of fighting in the morning ; 
but there won't be much more than that." 

During the nidit, all of Grant's creneral officers 
called on him, and the plans were made for the morro^^-. 
General Smith gave an account of his charge upon the 
Rebel works, and said that the volunteer troops, with 
the Second Iowa Infantry in front, fought as well as 
the best regular troops he ever saw. He was proud 
of his command, and full of enthusiasm concerning 
the volunteers, whom he had hitherto been inclined fo 
despise. He was ready to begin again in the morning 
just as spon as General Grant desired, and was fully 
confident that with a little more effort they would 
bring about the surrender of the enemy. 

The scL'ue in the Re))el camp that night was not a 



ESCAPE OF FLOYD AND PILLOW. 221 

happy one. General John B. Floyd was commander- 
in-chief, and he had special reasons for being unwilling 
to fall into the hands of the Union forces. Floyd 
was secretary of war under Buchanan, and until 
forced to retire he was for months doing everything 
in his power to help the Secession cause. He trans- 
ferred great quantities of arms and ammunition from 
Northern to Southern arsenals, and distributed the 
regular troops in such a way that they could be 
captured with comparative ease as soon as the war 
broke out. 

Floyd had committed treason ; and he knew that if 
he was captured he would probably be tried, convicted, 
and executed. He knew that he deserved just such 
treatment, and consequently he preferred escape to 
surrender. He explained to his subordinates, Generals 
Pillow and Buckner, why he should not become a 
prisoner, and ended by turning over the command to 
General Pillow, who was next to him in rank. Pillow 
also declined to take command, as he considered that 
there were special reasons why he should not be in- 
cluded in the surrender. Floyd and Pillow had been 
there but a few days, Floyd succeeding Pillow but 
two days before, and Pillow having been in command 
only five days previous to Floyd's arrivaf. 

The command devolved upon Gen. S. B. Buckner, 
who was more of a soldier than either of his so-called 



222 boys' life of general grant. 

superiors. Buckner was in command before Pillow 
arrived, and he had the soldier's instinct of being 
unwilling to desert his men. Floyd and Pillow took 
two steamboats and fled to Nashville during the night, 
carrying with them about three thousand men. Gen- 
eral Forrest, with a thousand cavalry, waded the 
stream on the south side of the fort, and escaped. 

Early in the morning, just as daylight was break- 
ing, a negro, the private servant of a Rebel officer, 
came to General Smith's headquarters and reported 
that the Rebels had been going away all along dur- 
ing the night. He was immediately taken to Grant's 
headquarters, where he was closely questioned, and 
he repeated his assertion that the Rebels were getting 
out of the fort as fast as they could go. General 
Grant said to him, — 

" If we go on your information and it is not true, a 
great many lives will be lost, and we shall hang you." 

"All right, Massa," replied the negro ;" you may 
hang me if I ain't tellin' the truf. I've just come 
from de fo't, and know v/hat the3''s a doin'." 

Grant immediately sent orders to his division gen- 
erals to get ready for an assault upon the fort. He 
told them that it would begin with Smith's division, 
and the others were to move as soon as they heard 
the sound of Smith's guns. 

The messengers with the orders had been gone 



PROPOSALS FOR SURRENDER. 223 

only a few minutes when General Smith walked into 
the cabin. He brought a letter which had been 
given to him by a Rebel officer, who was accompa- 
nied by a soldier bearing a white flag. The letter 
was addressed to General Grant, and Smith had made 
all possible haste to deliver it. It read as follows : 

Headquarters, Fort Donelson, 
Feb. 16, 1862. 
Sir, — In consideration of all the circumstances gov- 
erning the present situation of affairs at this station, 
I propose to the commanding officer of the Federal 
forces the appointment of commissioners to agree upon 
terms of capitulation of the forces and post under my 
command; and, in that view, suggest an armistice until 
twelve o'clock to-day. 

I am, sir, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

S. B. BUCKNER, 
Brig-Gen., C. S. A. 

To Brig-Gen. U. S. Grant, commanding United States 
forces near Fort Donelson. 

Grant was shivering with the cold, and the light 
in the cabin was dim. Whether it was on account 
of the dimness or the momentous character of the 
communication, it took him several minutes to read 
it. Without saying a word he handed the letter to 
Smith after he had perused it. 



224 boys' life of general grant. 

Smith read the letter, and then said very emphati- 
cally that traitors deserved no terms whatever. 

Grant called for pen and paper, and writing 
rapidly, penned the following : — 

Headquarters, Army ix the Field, 

Camp near Doxelson, 

Feb. 16, 1862. 
General S. B. Buckner, Confederate Anmj, — 
Yours of this date, proposing armistice, and appoint- 
ment of commissioners to settle terms of capitulation, 
is just received. No terms except an unconditional and 
immediate surrender can be accepted. I propose to move 
immediately upon your works. 

I am, sir, very respectfull}^. 

Your obedient servant, 

U. S. GRANT, 

Brig-Gen. 

It was from this letter that the general received 
the name of "Unconditional Surrender Grant," the 
initials of the two words corresponding with those 
of his name. The last sentence of the letter, "I 
propose to move immediately upon your works," 
was for a long time on many a lip on frequent 
occasions througliout the length and breadth of the 
country, or at least the Northern half of it. The 
phrase was not thought over or studied at all. It 
was penned as rapidly as the general could write, 



BUCKNEH SURRENDERS. 225 

and he suited the occasion to the word by imme- 
diately sending two of his aids to warn Wallace and 
McClernand to begin tlie assault as soon as they 
received the signal. Smith was not in Grant's cabin 
more than ten minutes; and he left as soon as the 
letter was ready, in order to give it to the Rebel 
officer who would convey it to his commander. 

Buckner did not take long to consider the matter. 
Within an hour General Grant received from him 
the following communication, — 

Headquarters, Dover, Tenn., 
Feb. 16, 1862 
To Brig.-Gen. U. S. Grant, U. S. Arnuj. 

Sir, — The distribution of the forces under my com- 
mand, incident to an unexpected change of commanders, 
and the overwhelming force under your command, com 
■ pel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Con- 
federate arms yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and 
unchivalrous terms which you propose. 

I am, sir, your very obedient servant, 

S. B. BUCKNER, 

Brig-Gen., C. S. A. 

Buckner in the meantime ordered that white flags 
be raised all along his front so that there would be 
no more fighting ; and when his letter came, the 
word passed quickly along the Union lines that the 
Rebels had surrendered. The night had been cold, 



226 boys' life of general grant 

and during a portion of it snow had fallen. Our 
soldiers were exposed to the full severity of the 
weather, and the night had been one of suffering. 
All were shivering with cold on that frosty morn- 
ing, and no doubt many a man wished he was at 
home rather than in the place where he found him- 
self. But as the word passed along that Fort Don- 
elson had fallen, the severity of the night was 
forgotten, and the air rang with cheers which rose 
along the line from one end to the other. Every 
heart rejoiced "with exceeding great joy," and every 
soldier present felt that the battle which had just 
been won would live in history. They had had a 
hard fight, not only with the enemy, but with the 
elements : but their losses and sufferings were for- 
gotten in the flush of victory. 

Grant read Buckner's second letter in the same 
quiet way in which he had perused the first. Hand- 
ing the letter to Rawlins, he said, — 

" The game's up ! I'll go over and see Buckner. 
Come along." 

Grant and his staff mounted their horses and rode 
to Buckner's headquarters, being guided there by the 
officer who had brought the letter. Grant and Buck- 
ner were well acquainted, as they had known each 
other at West Point, and had afterwards served to- 
gether in the army. It was about breakfast-time 



A REBEL BREAKFAST. 227 

when Grant and his staff arrived, and the Rebel 
general asked them to sit down to that meal. The 
breakfast was not such as one would expect to find 
at Delmonico's; but Buckner remarked that under 
the circumstances, he thought no apology was neces- 
sary for the frugality of his table. One of the staff- 
officers afterwards remarked that he thought he had 
seen some very bad coffee since his campaigns began, 
but the Confederate coffee surpassed in vileness any- 
thing he had ever before tasted. It should be re- 
marked that the coffee of the Rebels was usually 
quite innocent of the coffee-bean, and was generally 
made of burnt corn, with perhaps a little chicory or 
toasted breadcrusts to give it substance. 

Grant and Buckner shook hands in a very cordial 
way, and immediately fell to talking about the sur- 
render. Buckner asked that his men be supplied 
with provisions, and that certain delicacies should be 
given to the wounded officers. Grant immediately 
assented to these requests, and also said that officers 
might retain their side-arms and personal baggage, 
but horses and other public property must be sur- 
rendered. 

When these details were arranged, Buckner said 
to Grant, — 

"If I had been in command, you would not have 
taken Donelson so easily." 



228 boys' life of general grant. 

" Quite true," replied Grant. " And if you had 
been in command, I should have waited until I was 
reinforced before I came so near the fort. But I 
knew Pillow would never come out from behind the 
works." 

There was some further talk on tlie subject, and 
while it was going on General Smith arrived. He 
and Buckner were old friends, and they shook hands 
heartily. As they did so, Buckner complimented 
Smith on the splendid charge he made, to which 
Smith replied, — 

'' The men did magnificently, but the credit doesn't 
belong to me. I did it by General Grant's orders, 
that's all." 

As quickly as it could be done, the surrendered 
Rebels piled their arms, and were placed on board the 
transports to be sent to Cairo as prisoners of war. 
In consideration of its gallantry in heading the 
charge. General Grant allowed the Second Iowa In- 
fantry to hoist its flag over the fort. By noon the 
Northern troops had been marched inside ; and as 
they came from their various positions, cheer on 
cheer resounded through the forest and along the 
banks of the Cumberland. 

Fort Donelson, the fort on which the Confederates 
had relied for the possession of that long line from 
the Mississippi River to the foot of the Alleghanies, 



REBELS IN DESPAIR. 229 

had fallen. The fall of that fortress necessitated the 
evacuation of Columbus and of Nashville, and the 
retiring of the Confederate line a hundred or more 
miles to the south. 

The capture of the fort was a terrible blow to the 
Confederate power ; and there was consternation all 
through the Southern States, and especially at Rich- 
mond, the capital of the Confederacy. The conster- 
nation was made greater than it might have been by 
the folly of General Pillow, who continued to send 
encouraging dispatches down to the very moment 
when he fled towards Nashville. At the very hour 
that the surrender was going on, the papers of Nashville 
were printing the news with the following headlines; — 

" ENEMY RETREATING GLORIOUS RESULT OUR BOYS 

FOLLOWING, AND PEPPERING THEIR REAR A COMPLETE 

VICTORY." 

An hour or two later, when every one was exult- 
ing over the success of the Southern arms, news 
came of the surrender, and the rejoicing was in- 
stantly changed to mourning. Tliere was a wild 
panic in Nashville, as it was well understood that 
the capture of Donelson opened the way to that 
city. Service had just begun in the churches, but 
it was immediately suspended; and men, women, 
and children sought to leave the city as quickly as 



230 boys' life of general grant. 

possible. The railway trains were crowded, and the 
hire of carriages rose to twenty-five dollars an hour. 
"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good;" 
the hackmen of Nashville reaped a rich harvest in 
the general consternation that prevailed. 

The mourning of the South was as great over the 
loss of Donelson as was the rejoicing in the North. 
In nearly all the Northern cities business was sus- 
pended, schools were dismissed, all the church bells 
were ringing, men embraced each other in the 
streets, crowds gathered at every newspaper bulletin, 
" extras " sold enormously and at any price the news- 
boys chose to ask, and the whole po^^ulation gave 
itself up to unlimited and tumultuous joy. Chicago 
went fairly wild with delight, as it had a nearer and 
more practical interest in the fall of Donelson than 
had the Eastern States. Very little business was 
transacted in Chicago for twenty-four hours after the 
news of Donelson came, with the single exception 
of the saloons. Men felt that they must have some- 
thing to celebrate upon, and they took the readiest 
means which occurs to convivial minds. During the 
afternoon a placard was widely posted on the dead walls 
of Chicago, on Avhich was printed in glaring letters : — 

" ANY MAN FOUND SOBER AFTER 

SIX o'clock this evening will be 

ARRESTED FOR DISLOYALTY." 



STATISTICS OF FORT DONELSON. 231 

History doesn't record that any arrests for dis- 
loyalty were made that evening in Chicago. 

Immediately after the surrender of the fort, troops 
were sent out to bury the dead and bring in the 
wounded, each side looking out for its own. There 
can be little doubt that in going back and forth 
through the Union lines in this work of humanity, 
many of the Rebels embraced the opportunity to 
escape, as it would be practically impossible for the 
Northern soldiers to prevent them from doing so. A 
good many Rebel soldiers went to General Grant and 
asked permission to go home, promising that they 
would never be found in the Confederate ranks again. 
He allowed them to go, and there can be little doubt 
that the majority of them intended to keep their 
promise. But necessity, according to the old adage, 
*' knows no law ; " and probably the Southern conscrip- 
tion forced them once more into service. 

The actual number of men who defended Fort 
Donelson, or who were in it when the fighting began, 
will never be known exactly. The Southern writers 
say that there were 17,000 men in ^ Donelson when 
Grant landed his troops below the fort. But this 
figure is too low ; as 14,623 Donelson prisoners passed 
Cairo, and received rations there from the commis- 
sary-general. General Pillow reported 2,000 killed 
and wounded ; and when Floyd and Pillow escaped 



232 boys' life of general grant. 

during the night of the 15th, they took with them 
not fewer than 3,000 men. A thousand cavahy went 
away with Forrest; and squads and groups of men 
were escaping all along during the night. Putting 
all these things together, there could hardly have 
been less than 21,000 Confederates at Fort Donelson 
on the 15th of February. On the day the fort fell, 
Grant had 27,000 troops — some of them required 
for guarding the roads. After the surrender several 
regiments arrived, but they were not needed. 

The Confederate loss at Donelson was reported at 
237 killed and 1,000 wounded. The National loss 
was estimated at 446 killed, 1,755 wounded, and 152 
made prisoners. 



PROMOTIONS AND CONGRATULATIONS. 233 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Movements after Donelson. — Evacuation of Columbus. — Capture of 
Clarksville and Nashville. — Up the Tennessee River. — Pittsburg 
Landing, or Shiloh. — Great battle there. — First day's fighting. — 
Grant's army in peril. — Reinforced by Buell. — Fighting on the 
second day. — Rebels driven back. — Fugitives from the battlefield. 
— Grant injured by a fall. — Death of Albert Sidney Johnston. — 
Losses at Shiloh. 

Immediately after the capture of Fort Donelson, 
Grant was promoted to the rank of major-general 
of volunteers. All three of his division commanders 
were promoted to the same grade ; and the colonels 
who commanded brigades were raised to brigadier- 
generals. Congratulations came to Grant from all 
over the country, except from the commander-in-chief 
of his department. General Halleck issued a formal 
order thanking Admiral Foote, General Grant, and 
the forces under their command, for the victories of 
Forts Henry and Donelson ; but he sent no congratu- 
latory message to either of those officers. 

Grant took possession of Clarkesville and Nashville, 
which are both on the Cumberland River above Donel- 
son. General Buell was advancing towards Nashville 
with the Army of the Ohio ; he detached from it 
General Nelson's division, and sent it by steamboat 



234 boys' life of general grant. 

down the Ohio and up tlie Cumberland, with orders 
to report to Grant. Grant had no use for it, and 
sent Nelson to take possession of Nashville, which 
the Rebels liad evacuated, and hold it until Buell 
arrived. 

The Rebels evacuated Columbus ; and, in fact, tliere 
w^as a general falling back along their \Ahole line. 
General Grant learned tliat they w^ere concentrating 
at Corinth, Miss., about twenty-five miles from the 
nearest point on the Tennessee River, and the junc- 
tion of two railways, — the Memphis and Charles- 
ton, — running nearly due east and west, and the 
Mobile and Ohio, nearly north a»nd south. Grant 
desired to make a rapid movement upon them, but 
was I'cstrained from so doing by the jiositive orders 
of General Halleck. Halleck appeared to be jealous 
of Grant's success. While the wdiole country was 
shouting itself hoarse over the victory of Fort Donel- 
son, Halleck was upbraiding Grant for alleged vio- 
lations of orders, most of them imaginary ; sending 
complaints about him to Washington ; and culminating 
by removing him from command, and appointing Gen- 
eral C. F. Smith in his place. The removal took place 
on the 4th of March ; and on the 13th, nine days 
later, General Grant was restored to his command. 
He immediately proceeded to Savannah, Tenn., where 
the most of his troops had been sent by General 



NEW MOVEMENTS. 235 

Smith, the latter having taken up and carried for- 
ward the plans of General Grant. 

Savannah is on the east bank of the Tennessee, ten 
miles below Pittsburg Landing ; while Corinth is on the 
Y/est side, and, as before stated, about twenty-five miles 
away. Grant's plan was to gather a sufficient army 
to make an attack upon Corinth, and keep the river 
between him and tlie enemy until his force was suf- 
ficiently strong to take the offensive. Near the latter 
part of March he transferred a large portion of his 
force to the west bank of the river, at Pittsburg Land- 
ing, forming a camp there, but without throwing up 
fortifications. He was still waiting for reinforcements 
which had been promised, but were not arriving as 
rapidly as he desired. 

General Buell, with the Army of the Ohio, was 
marching across country from Nashville to mali:e the 
junction with Grant ; and the latter intended to move 
against the enemy as soon as Buell arrived. There 
were daily skirmishes with the enemy's cavalry, but 
they generally retired as soon as they came into col- 
lision Avith our troops. Evidently the . enemy was 
feeling the position of the Unionists, and learning as 
nearly as possible where Grant's troops were en- 
camped. 

Buell's army was expected to come in at Savannah ; 
and the advance division, commanded by General Nel- 



236 boys' life of general grant. 

son, reached there on the 5th of ApriL Buell sent 
word that he himself would arrive at Savannah on the 
6tli, and wished to meet General Grant as soon as 
possible. It had been Grant's practice for a week or 
more to spend the day with the army at Pittsburg 
Landing, and return to Savannah in the evening. 
When he went to bed on the night of the 5th, he 
planned to take a very early breakfast and ride out 
and meet Buell, thus saving time. 

While he was at breakfast he heard heavy firing in 
the direction of Pittsburg; and instead of going out to 
meet Buell, he hastened to Pittsburg as quickly as pos- 
sible, but sending a note to General Buell explaining 
why he could not meet him just then. 

As Grant's steamboat pushed up the river, the sound 
of the firing grew more and more distinct. It did not 
take long for the general to realize that the enemy was 
attacking in force, and that all the strength of his army 
would be required for the successful defense of the 
position. 

Thus began the battle of Pittsburg Landing, also 
called the battle of Shiloh in the Southern States and 
sometimes in the Northern. The former name comes 
from the point on the river where the troops went 
ashore from the transports. That of the latter comes 
from a church bearing the name of Shiloh, and standing 
about two miles back of the river. INIuch of the heavy 



BATTLE OF SHILOH. 237 

fighting was done around Shiloh Church, and the place 
was in the possession at different times of both the 
contending parties. Pittsburg Landing from beginning 
to end was held by the Union forces, and at no time 
did a Confederate soldier set foot upon it except 
as a prisoner. 

At the beginning of the battle, Shiloh Church was 
within the Union lines. During the afternoon it fell 
into the hands of the Confederates, and it was not 
regained again till the next day. The front of the 
Union army Avas between four and five miles long, 
extending in ' a semicircle from the river-bank at 
Pittsburg Landing to a point three miles below at 
what was called Crump's Landing. 

The Avhole Confederate force at Corinth, about forty 
thousand men, had moved out to attack the Union po- 
sition. It was commanded by General Albert Sidney 
Johnston, and his second in command was General 
Beauregard. The attack began upon the division of 
General Prentiss, on the left of the Union line. At 
the extreme left of the line was Owl Creek, which was 
very high at the time, and served materially as a 
protection to the camp. On the right of the Union 
position was Lick Creek, which was also swollen by 
reason of heavy rains. The condition of these creeks 
prevented the Rebels from making a flank movement, 
and compelled them to attack directly in front. 



238 boys' life of general grant. 

The first intimation of the presence of the enemy 
was when a column of Confederate troops attacked 
the division of General Prentiss; and the assault was 
made with great vigor. Prentiss's troops were per- 
fectly raw, none of them having ever been under fire 
before ; but they formed quickly, and made a good 
defense, so much so as to cause heavy loss to their 
adversaries. 

Almost simultaneously with the assault upon Pren- 
tiss, the sound of firing was heard all along the 
front, and the fighting was soon in full blast. The 
sound of artillery and musketry rose through the 
woods in such heavy volumes that it was audible 
many miles away. The attack was so vigorous 
everywhere that the Union troops were forced back ; 
but they held their ground stubbornly, and fought 
every inch of the wa3\ 

As soon as General Grant arrived, he visited each 
of his division commanders, and conferred with them 
concerning the outlook. Each of the generals ap- 
peared to understand the situation, and considering 
the rawness of their troops was handling them with 
skill. Whenever a brigade or division was forced 
back by a heavy onslaught of the enemy, it was 
necessary for the divisions on either side of it to re- 
tire a little in order to preserve an unbroken line. 

The ground on which the battle was fought con- 



ATTACK ON PRENTISS'S DIVISION. 239 

sisted principally of forest, with occasional fields and 
other open stretches ; but at no place was it possible 
to see at a long distance, and consequently it was 
not easy to ascertain in one division what was hap- 
pening in the next. 

General Prentiss's division fought stubbornly, and 
held its ground ; in fact, it was so busy at one 
time holding its position that it did not know 
until too late that the next division had fallen 
back. The Rebels suddenly appeared in its rear, 
coming in through the opening made by the retire- 
ment of the division next to it. Hemmed in as he 
was with strong forces, both in front and behind him, 
Prentiss had no alternative but to surrender. He 
was captured, with about twenty-five hundred officers 
and men ; the capture taking place not far from 
five o'clock in the afternoon. A story was circulated 
at the time that Prentiss's division was surprised and 
captured at daylight; but the story never had the 
least foundation whatever. Prentiss's division fought 
stubbornly throughout the day, and changed its posi- 
tion several times until the hour mentioned. Pren- 
tiss himself was moving constantly among his men, 
and was visited by General Grant as late as four 
o'clock. His commander says that at that time 
Prentiss was as cool as a cucumber, and confident of 
victory. 



240 boys' life of general grant. 

During the latter part of the first day of the battle, 
the fortunes of the Union army had a gloomy out- 
look. Column after column dashed against the Union 
line ; and it was forced back, back, back, until, when 
night came, it had retreated to within a half-mile of 
the river. Not a few of the raw regiments broke 
and ran at the first fire. The men were panic- 
stricken, and sought a place of shelter. A dense 
mass of stragglers accumulated on the river-bank, 
seeking the shelter of the transjDorts ; and all the 
efforts of the officers were unavailing to drive them 
back to the field. A few here and there were rallied 
and brought again to the front, but they were so few 
that they did not visibly deplete the great mass. So 
near were the enemy to the river-bank that the 
Confederate artillery threw a plunging fire among 
them, causing several deaths and many wounds. 

It is proper to say in this connection that the 
accumulation of stragglers in the rear of the battle- 
field of Pittsburg Landing was by no means ex- 
ceptional. Probably the same thing was going on 
on the Confederate side, as it occurs and has oc- 
curred in every battle in every land since warfare 
began. Always in time of action there is a stream 
of stragglers, unwounded or with slight wounds, who 
by accident or design become separated from their 
commands and seek safety in retirement. Not all 



SKULKERS NOT COWARDS. 241 

of these men, nay, only a small portion of them, are 
cowards, and deliberately running away from battle. 
The same men who sought the rear of Shiloh after- 
wards stood up bravely and fought like veterans. 
They were demoralized by their first experience; but 
when the shock was over, their inborn courage re- 
turned, and they determined to redeem the names they 
had sullied by retiring. 

The Rebels were confident that by nightfall they 
would drive the Union army to its transports, or into 
the Tennessee River, and receive the surrender of 
those who remained. But within half a mile of the 
river they encountered an obstacle, — a battery of 
thirty pieces of heavy artillery which Colonel Web- 
ster of General Grant's staff had placed there during 
the day. When the Rebel column came within range 
of this battery, it opened fire upon them, and checked 
their advance. Then the curtain of night dropped over 
the battlefield, and the combatants rested on their arms. 
In addition to the night came reinforcements. Men- 
tion has been made of the arrival of Nelson's division 
of Buell's army at Savannah, on the evening of the 
5th, before the fighting began. On the morning of 
the 6th, General Grant sent orders for Nelson's di- 
vision to move as quickly as possible up the eastern 
bank of the river to a point opposite Pittsburg Land- 
ing, whence it would be ferried across to the scene 



242 boys' life of general grant. 

of action. Just before night, Nelson's division arrived 
on the scene, and took a position on the left; but 
there was no fighting of consequence after it arrived. 
During the day, Buell's other divisions came into 
Savannah, and at night were taken on steamboats up 
the river to the battlefield. All along, during the 
night. Admiral Foote's gunboats kept up a slow can- 
nonading, throwing shells every fifteen minutes into 
the Confederate camp. It was not expected that 
this cannonading would cause much slaughter. The 
idea was to create consternation among the Rebels; 
and this was the result as afterwards ascertained. 

Grant remained on the battlefield, near the battery 
which Colonel Webster had erected, for a part of 
the night, and spent the rest of it in visiting his divis- 
ion commanders. He gave orders to begin the battle 
immediately after daylight, and to push the Rebels 
as earnestly as possible. General Lew Wallace's divis- 
ion, which had been on the extreme right, near 
Crump's Landing, on tlie 5th, and was not engaged 
by the enemy, was brought up during the night, so 
that it formed a part of the line for the work of the 
6th. Grant was confident of victory, and had inspired 
his officers with similar confidence. He directed them 
to throw out heavy lines of skirmishers as soon as it 
was daylight, and engage the enemy from one end 
of the line to the other. 



SECOND MORNING OF THE BATTLE. 243 

Two or three days before the battle of Shiloh, Gen- 
eral Grant met with a mishap tlu'ough his horse slip- 
ping and falling upon him. He walked with difficulty, 
and could not mount into the saddle, or dismount, 
without assistance. Notwithstanding his personal suf- 
fering he went around as actively as ever, and his 
presence gave great encouragement to officers and 
men. He was in the saddle before daylight on the 7th, 
and personally issued the orders already mentioned. 

Tliese orders were carried out to the letter. 
Promptly at daybreak firing began along the whole 
line, the Union troops being the first to open the 
contest. Fresh supplies of ammunition had been 
brought up during the night, and the cartridge-box of 
every soldier was filled to its utmost capacity. Am- 
munition wagons stood at numerous intervals in the 
rear of the line, ready to deliver their contents where- 
ever wanted. It takes a great deal of lead to kill 
a man on a battlefield. The estimate during the 
Civil War was, that for every man killed or wounded 
in battle a hundred pounds of leaden bullets were 
used, and at least a thousand pounds of artillery, shot, 
and shell. Bearing this in mind, the reader will per- 
ceive that a great many tons of ammunition were 
used at Shiloh. 

Nearly always a great battle is followed by a heavy 
rain. Rain fell in torrents during the night of the 



244 boys' life of general grant. 

6th of April, and made the bivouac of tlie troops on 
both sides an uncomfortable one ; but it extinguished 
the fires that had started in the forest in many places, 
and gave welcome relief to the wounded who lay 
scattered on the ground. Rain was still falling on 
the morning of the 7th when the fighting began ; and 
it made the ground soft, and increased the difficulty 
of moving artiller}^ Several cannon were hopelessly 
stuck in the mud, and our troops were unable in re- 
peated instances to bring their artillery forward. Some 
of the guns remained for several days so deeply 
mired that they were scarcely visible above the sea of 
mud. 

During the night, a great number of the stragglers 
who sought the shelter of the river-bank during the 
first day's work were temporarily organized into com- 
panies, and brought forward to take part in the second 
day's work. A few of them ran away for the second 
time, but the great majority had now recovered their 
senses and stood up manfully. 

At the close of the first day's fighting news came 
to General Grant that the Confederate commander. 
General Johnston, had been killed. Confirmation of 
this report cam.e shortly after ; and the general took 
pains to spread the information all along the line, and 
thus give encouragement to his men. General John- 
ston was considered one of the best commanders in 



DEATH OF GENERAL JOHNSTON. 245 

the Confederacy. He was a soldier of experience and 
marked ability, and his loss at the time it occurred 
was a very serious one to the Confederates. General 
Beauregard succeeded him in command. He was of 
French origin, and was not held in as high esteem by 
officers and soldiers as was General Johnston. One 
of Grant's generals remarked of Johnston's death that 
it was equivalent to the loss of at least one division 
of troops. The elation of the Union forces on hearing 
of it was about equal to the gloom that overspread 
the Confederate troops when they learned the, to them, 
sad intelligence. 

From the very beginning of the fighting on the 
7th, the Union troops steadily pushed the Rebels be- 
fore them, backward, backward, backward, till the 
center of their line was once more near Shiloh Church. 
There they made a desperate stand a little past noon. 
They massed heavily, and for the time resisted all 
attempts to move them ; in fact, at one time they al- 
most broke the Union line. Grant hastened to the 
spot, guided by the heavy firing, and as he neared it 
he overtook two regiments on their way to reinforce 
a brigade that had suffered heavily and was in danger 
of falling back. These regiments were hesitating in 
consequence of the hot fire, whereupon Grant placed 
himself at their head, and led them forward to the 
line of battle. Following these regiments came a 



246 

battery of artillery wliich was whirled up to within 
short range of the dense mass of Confederates. Grant 
ordered the captain of the battery to drop his shells 
into the middle of that mass. He did so, and the Con- 
federates broke and fled in confusion. 

"That's the end of it," said Grant. ''They won't 
make another stand." 

And they did not. Sullenly the Rebels retreated 
from the battlefield, and sought the shelter of their 
intrenciiments at Corinth. Grant wanted to pursue 
them, and was confident that he could take possession 
of Corinth without more serious fighting; but his troops 
were in no condition for a pursuit. They were utterly 
worn out by the fatigue and exposure of the two days' 
battle, having passed the night in the rain without 
sleep ; and pursuit was quite out of the question. 
Grant rode over to Buell on the left, and had an 
interview with that general and his division command- 
ers. To them he urged the pursuit ; but all pronounced 
it impossible under the circumstances, and he was 
obliged to abandon the idea. 

General Beauregard put the best face he could on 
his failure to capture Grant's arm3\ He telegraphed 
to Richmond as follows : — 

^'We have gained a great and glorious victory, eight 
to ten thousand prisoners, and thirty-six pieces of canon. 
Buell reinforced Grant, and we retired to our intrench- 



LOSSES AT SHILOH. 247 

ments at Corinth, which we can hold. Loss heavy on both 
sides." 

The same day, after sending away this boastful dis- 
patch, he sent a letter to General Grant asking per- 
mission to send a party to the battlefield to bury the 
Confederate dead. As his reason for so doing, he 
began his letter as follows : — 

" At the close of the conflict yesterday, my forces being 
exhausted by the extraordinary length of the time during 
which they were engaged on that and the preceding day, 
and it being apparent that you had received, and were still 
receiving, reinforcements, I felt it my duty to withdraw 
my troops from the immediate scene of the conflict." 

Grant replied that all the dead had been buried, 
therefore there was no necessity of the burying party 
from the Confederate side. He added that if the ne- 
cessity existed he should certainly grant the courtesy 
requested or any other that was dictated by humanity. 

The official reports of the battle show the losses on 
each side to have been as follows : — 

KILLED WOUNDED MLSSING TOTAL 

Union 1,700 7,595 3,022 12,217 

Confederate . . 1,728 8,012 957 10,699 

Shiloh was the greatest battle of the war down to 
that time, and one of the most stubborn battles of 
the entire war. Neither side fought behind intrench- 



248 boys' life of general grant. 

merits. For nearly two days they stood up and faced 
each other ; and for a great part of the time the lines 
were so close together that the men on the opjDOsite 
sides shouted at and taunted each other whenever 
their voices could be heard above the surrounding din. 
It was a steady " give and take " struggle ; and no 
man in his sober senses could say, after that battle, 
that the men on either side were cowards. It was 
American bravery on one side, and American bravery 
on the other. In the early part of the battle it was 
Southern dash ao-ainst Northern steadiness. Steadi- 
ness gave way beneath the dash ; but it rallied, held 
its own, and triumphed in the end. 



grant's narrow escape. 249 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Grant's narrow escape in the battle. —Confederate strength at Corinth. 

— General Halleck assumes command. — Siege of Corinth, — A slow 
approach.— Fifteen miles in six weeks. — Grant asks to he relieved. 

— His request denied. — Rebels evacuate Corinth. — Pope and Buell 
pursue them. — Grant in command of the department. — His escape 
from guerrillas. —Rebels attack Corinth. 

During the battle, Grant seemed to bear a charmed 
life. He was under fire many times; his horse was 
struck with a bullet, and a cannon-shot passed be- 
neath the animal's belly within an inch or two of 
the general's feet. At one time, when he was riding 
at full speed from one division to another, a bullet 
struck and broke his scabbard, and released his sword, 
which was never afterwards found. While he stood 
talking to an officer behind the batteries about five 
o'clock on Sunday afternoon, Carson, a scout, reported 
to him, and then stepped back a few feet. Hardly 
had he done so when a cannon-shot took off the 
scout's head, and bespattered the general with his 
blood. 

While General Grant was looking on at the con- 
test near Shiloh Church, an artillery officer rode up, 
and touching his cap, thus addressed the com- 
mander : — 



250 boys' life of general grant. 

" Sheneral, I comes to makes one report. Schwartz's 
Battery is took." 

" How was that?" the general asked. 

"Veil, you sees, Sheneral, dem Rebels comes up 
in front of das battery ; den dey comes on one 
sides, and den on oder sides, and den in der rear 
of us, and Schwartz's Battery vos took." 

"Well, sir," said the general, "of course you 
spiked the guns." 

" Vat ! spike all dem new guns ! No, it vould 
schpoil dem." 

"Well," said the general in a tone of disgust, 
" what did you do ? " 

" Do I vy, we took dem back agin ! " 

In order to fight the battle of Shiloh and destroy 
the Army of the Tennessee, the Confederates had 
stripped the South-western States of their best troops, 
and concentrated them at Corinth. They brought 
forty thousand men into battle, and a considerable 
additional force was on its way to join them ; John- 
ston decided not to await these reinforcements, but 
to attack before Grant could be joined by the Army 
of the Ohio under Buell. Originally he planned to 
make the attack on the 4th instead of the 6th ; and 
had he done so. Grant would have been unable to 
bring Buell and his army corps into the field. A 
heavy rain on the 3d caused the postponement of 
Johnston's plans. 



HALLECK SUPEKSEDES GRANT. 251 

A few days after the battle, General Grant was 
superseded by General Halleck, who came to take 
command in person. As already stated, Grant was 
not in favor with Halleck; and the latter proceeded 
to strip him of his authority, while pretending at 
the same time to increase it. The army had been 
strengthened by the arrival of General Pope with a 
considerable force, which had recently captured Island 
No. 10 on the Mississippi River. Halleck issued an 
order giving General Thomas command of the right 
wing of the army, Buell the command of the center, 
and Pope that of the left. The reserves were placed 
under General McClernand, and then the order con- 
cluded as follows : — 

"Major-General Grant will retain the general command 
of the District of West Tennessee, including the army 
corps of the Tennessee, and reports will be made to him 
as heretofore ; but in the present movement he will act 
as second in command under the major-general com- 
manding the department." 

Halleck pretended that this was a promotion, as 
he thus placed Grant second in command, so that 
if any accident happened to himself Grant would 
succeed him. On the other hand, Halleck required 
the other commanders to report directly to himself, 
and Grant was practically left with nothing to do; 



252 boys' life of general grant. 

and in order to know the strength of the army or 
what was going on, he was obliged to ask infor- 
mation of Halleck. Grant said nothing, but took 
the affronts quietly, though it can easily be imagined 
what his feelincrs were when oixlers were issued 
over his head to his subordinates. 

News of the victory at Shiloh caused great rejoi- 
cing in the North, though less so, perhaps, than did 
the capture of Fort Donelson. The country was 
getting accustomed to victories, and therefore was 
not so much impressed when one occurred. Fur- 
thermore, the victory of Shiloh had given us no 
decided advantage which the ordinary citizen could 
perceive ; as far as he could see, we were in the 
same position at the end of the battle as we were 
in the beginning. The enemy had attacked us and 
had been driven away, and that was all there was 
about it. The magnitude of the battle would have 
been realized if the public had considered what 
would have been the result if the Confederates had 
destroyed or captured the Army of the Tennessee, 
as they had planned to do. The Tennessee and 
Cumberland Rivers would have been at their mercy; 
and before many days the Rebel flag would have 
floated from Forts Henry and Donelson, and over 
Nashville and other places that had recently been 
surrendered to us. 



THE SIEGE OF CORINTH. 253 

Halleck collected an army of one hundred and 
twenty thousand men, and proceeded to intrench as 
though he was opposed by a larger number of men 
than he had under his command. Slowly the army 
moved in the direction of Corinth, and every advance 
that it made of a few hundred yards it stopped to 
intrench itself. So strong was its position at all times 
that an assault by a vastly superior force should have 
been easily repelled. Halleck received, or pretended 
to receive, news that Beauregard's army in front of 
him was one hundred and fifty thousand strong, and 
consequently his careful advance would seem to be 
justified. He gave to all his subordinates the strictest 
orders not to bring on a battle under any circum- 
stances ; even if attacked by the enemy and successful 
in repulsing him, they were not to pursue. 

A military critic remarked of Halleck's operations 
at this point : — 

"Napoleon might as well have intrenched on the 
field of Austerlitz, or Wellington on the eve of 
Waterloo." 

The fact is, that the army at any time could have 
captured Corinth, as Beauregard had not one-third the 
strength of Halleck. Days and weeks passed away, 
and with a front eight or ten miles long the army 
slowly crept forward. It suffered terribly from disease, 
as the upturning of the soil filled the air with malaria ; 



254 boys' life of general grant. 

and many thousands of soldiers perished of fevers, 
dysentery, and other diseases, induced by bad water 
and bad air. 

The men certainly were not broken down by hard 
marching, as it took six weeks to make an advance of 
just fifteen miles. Whenever opportunity occurred. 
Grant urged an immediate movement upon Corinth ; 
but he was so effectually snubbed by Halleck that he 
did not venture to do so often. 

His position was so irksome that he asked on the 
lltli of May to be altogether relieved from the depart- 
ment, or to have a definite knowledge of what his 
position was. Halleck replied in an ambiguous note 
which ^tempted to explain matters, and assure his 
subordinate that there was no intention of disrespect 
to him. 

In the last da^^s of May rumors came into the camp 
that the Rebels were evacuating Corinth ; and so posi- 
tive was the information of some of the commanders 
that they reported it to General Halleck, and ventured 
to suggest a movement upon the place. Halleck 
laughed at the idea, and intimated to the officers who 
had the temerity to address him that he knew perfectly 
well what was going on. The front of the army was 
then about three miles from Corinth, and the move- 
ment of railway trains could be heard distinctly. On 
the 29th of May the sound of a tremendous explosion 



REBELS EVACUATE CORINTH. 255 

was heard, and the idea occurred to many that the 
Rebels were blowing up their works previous to get- 
ting out. 

Halleck took the other view of the case, and said that 
they were getting ready to attack. He issued orders 
for the whole army to be ready for battle on the follow- 
ing morning, as the indications were that the enemy 
would attack in full force. The fact is, that at the 
moment the order was sent out, the last of the rear- 
guard of the Rebel army was marching out of Corinth, 
and leaving the place deserted. 

It afterwards turned out that for three weeks Beau- 
regard's preparations for evacuation had been going on. 
He had been sending away troops and materials, and 
Halleck had not been able to find it out. Logan's 
division on the right was ordered to advance about 
five hundred yards, and intrench; and they were 
actually throwing up the earth with their spades when 
a portion of the right wing of the army was being 
marched into Corinth, General Pope having been in- 
formed by the country people that the place was 
abandoned. 

Pope and Buell went in pursuit of the fleeing Rebels. 
They picked up a good many stragglers, but with a 
single exception did not succeed in engaging any por- 
tion of the army. In the force that went in pursuit 
there was a brigade of cavalry commanded by a young 



256 boys' life of general grant. 

captain of the regular army who had been serving as 
quartermaster; he had received his appointment as 
colonel of the Michigan cavalry regiment only five 
days before, and was practically unknown. With his 
brigade he made a dash upon the Confederate rear, 
and after a sharp fight took several hundred prisoners. 
He afterwards became known to the country and the 
world as Lieutenant-General Sheridan. His exploit in 
this pursuit was what first brought him into notice. 

Halleck's army entered Corintli and took possession. 
The Rebel evacuation had been made so leisurely that 
nothing of value remained. The capture of Corinth 
made it impossible for the Rebels to hold on much 
longer at Memphis ; and within a week that city was 
captured, after severe fighting between the two hostile 
fleets of gunboats. The Rebels defended their boats 
bravely ; but the superiority of construction of the 
Northern ones was such that onh^ one man on the 
Union side was injured. With a single exception 
every one of the Rebel boats was blown up, sunk, or 
captured. The fight took place just after sunrise, and 
was witnessed by the entire population of Memphis, 
which lined the bluff on which the city stands. 

There was no longer any need at Corinth of the vast 
army which had been collected, and portions of it were 
sent away in different directions. Halleck continued 
in command of the department, and Grant was assigned 



GXrEKRILLAS AFTER GRANT. 



257 



to the district of West Tennessee a few days after the 
fall of Memphis. He went by rail to within forty 
miles of the city, where a bridge had been burned ; and 
from there went through on horseback accompanied 
by three staff-officers and a small escort of cavalry. 
The country was full of guerrillas, or independent ran- 
gers, who were hunting for Union men, whether in 
uniform or out of it, and making travel very unsafe. 
Some of them learned that Grant was riding through 
to Memphis, and organized as quickly as possible to 
intercept and capture him. Grant had several miles 
the start of them, but at a point five miles from Mem- 
phis they came in on a side road in order to capture 
him. They stood there and waited for half an hour or 
so ; then a man who had been working in a field not 
far away came and asked them what they wanted. 
• ^' We're after a crowd of Yankee soldiers," said the 
leader. " They ought to be along here pretty soon." 
" What kind of a crowd is it ? " the farmer asked. 
" One of them is a general," was the reply. " And 
there's some officers and a lot of soldiers all on horse^ 

back." 

" You'se waitin' here for nothin' then," the farmer 
answered. ''That crowd done gone by about fifteen 
minutes afore you came." 

The guerrilla leader's face fell. Gone fifteen minutes 
before he came, and he had waited half an hour ! Forty- 



258 boys' life of general grant. 

five minutes, and five miles! Grant was in Mempliis 
by that time, and there was no hope of capturing him. 

Grant took command of Memphis, relieving Lew 
Wallace, wlio was then commanding the town, and 
remaining there until the middle of July, when he 
returned to Corinth. The day after he arrived, Halleck 
was ordered to Washington to take chief command 
of the armies of the United States ; and he turned his 
autliority over to Grant, as he was the next in rank. 
Before doing so, however, he offered it to another 
officer, who promptly declined it. After Halleck trans- 
feri'ed it to Grant, he became very gracious in manner, 
and said, — 

•'Now that I am going to the East, I can't be here 
to take Vicksburg. I suppose I must leave that job 
to you." 

Grant replied, "I am here to obey orders; and if I 
am told to take Vicksburg, I shall certainly try." 

Corinth continued to be the strategic point in Grant's 
department. He garrisoned Bolivar, Jackson, and one 
or two other places, and kept open the railway line to 
Columbus, through a region haunted by guerrillas. He 
drew all his supplies from Columbus, as the Tennessee 
River was too low at that time to afford navigation for 
any but the smallest steamboats. The Confederate 
General Bragg had organized a large army, and was 
moving toward Kentucky. Reinforcements for BuelFs 



FORTIFICATIONS AT CORINTH. 259 

army were urgently requested, and a large portion of 
Grant's troops were sent away. 

In the meantime another Rebel army, under Van Dorn 
and Price, was threatening Grant, who was now alto- 
gether too weak to take the offensive. He kept a sharp 
watch upon the movements of his antagonists, and 
renewed the fortifications of Corinth. He found the 
place pretty well fortified; but as the Rebels would 
naturally know all about the fortifications that they 
had built, he remodeled the old works, and built many 
new ones, so that if the former occupants of Corinth 
should attack him they would not be as thoroughly 
informed as they thought they were. 

By the end of August the position at Corinth was a 
strong one, and Grant felt confident of repelling a force 
much larger than his own. General Pope was badly 
beaten in Virginia, where he had been sent after the 
capture of Corinth ; and in Kentucky, General Bragg 
pushed northward until his army was in front of Cin- 
cinnati, and an invasion of Ohio was looked upon as 
quite probable. Price and Van Dorn were moving in 
Grant's direction, but had not yet united. Price occu- 
pied luka, a town about twenty miles east of Corinth. 
Grant determined to destroy Price's army before Van 
Dorn could join it. He sent two divisions to attack 
Price ; and a battle was fought which resulted in Price's 
retirement. His army was crippled, but not broken up. 



260 boys' life of general grant. 

Price and Van Dorn united their forces, and showed 
no disposition to move farther away. 

Grant removed his headquarters to Jackson, Tenn., 
which was a better point than Corinth for over- 
looking his whole department. It was difficult to 
guess where the enemy would strike him; but from 
the way the Rebel army was moving, Corinth was the 
point indicated. Van Dorn, who commanded his own 
and Price's troops, swung around to the north of 
Corinth so as to attack it from that direction. General 
Rosecrans was in command at Corinth, and he met Van 
Dorn's army five miles outside the fortifications. They 
had a sharp battle, but Rosecrans wisely allowed his 
troops to be driven into his fortifications. By the time 
his forces were inside, night had come, and movements 
were suspended. The Rebels were greatly elated at 
their success, and they formed their bivouac within 
a hundred yards of th^ Union lines. 

At daylight the next morning they made a savage 
assault. They were doing what the Union troops did 
at Donelson, — attacking their enemy behind breast- 
works ; and they did it just as bravely. Charge upon 
charge they made against the Union front; and each 
time they were mowed down by artillery and small 
arms, great gaps being cut in their ranks. Time after 
time they assaulted; and once they obtained possession 
of a fort, but only for a few minutes. General Rose- 



WORK OF A SPY. 261 

crans in person rallied his troops, and drove the enemy 
back. 

The fight lasted in this way from daybreak until 
noon; then the enemy hesitated. They were wearied 
and exhausted by their long struggle, and it was evi- 
dent that their commanders had about given up the 
fight as hopeless. Rosecrans ordered a charge ; and our 
troops rushed out and attacked the Rebels, who quickly 
retreated. 

With his wonderful foresight, Grant, at his head- 
quarters in Jackson, foresaw these events, and sent out 
two divisions under Generals Hurlbut and Ord. These 
divisions met the retiring Rebels ten miles south of 
Corinth while they were crossing a river. They cap- 
tured a battery and many prisoners; and if General 
Ord had not been severely wounded in the early part 
of the battle, it is probable that the whole would have 
been destroyed. 

The movement of the Rebels to attack on the north 
side of Corinth was inspired by a resident of that place, 
a woman who was acting as a spy. She sent a letter 
to Van Dorn containing a map of the fortifications, and 
saying that they were weakest on the north side and 
very poorly garrisoned. General Ord intercepted the 
letter and read it ; he then sealed it again, and allowed 
it to go to General Van Dorn, but at the same time he 
proceeded to strengthen his works on the north side, 
and to increase the garrison. 



262 boys' life of general grant. 

One of the participants in the battle was a bird, slv 
eagle belonging to the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry. 
This eagle was presented to the regiment shortly before 
its departure from home, and it was carried by the 
men throughout the whole war. The bird was allowed 
to go wherever it pleased, and made itself quite at home 
among the soldiers on the march. It was sometimes 
carried on a percli borne by one of the men ; but the 
greater part of tlie time it flew in the air, hovering 
above the regiment, lighting on trees, and moving on 
a short distance at a time, but never losing sight of 
the body of troops to which it belonged. In battle it 
would fly high in the air, circling round and round, and 
screaming with apparent delight. It enjoyed hearing 
the band play, and enjoyed just as much the sound 
of cannon and musketry. The bird was shrewd enough 
to keep out of harm's way in time of battle, but was 
very often so near that it must have heard the whistle 
and " ping " of the bullets. The soldiers called him 
'' Old Abe;" and there would have been great mourning 
if any misfortune had come to the bird. After the 
war he was kept for years in the Wisconsin State 
House, and was frequently exhibited at Grand Army 
reunions and other public festivities. In 1876 he was 
one of the attractions of the Centennial Exhibition. 

The failure of the Rebels to capture Corinth ren- 
dered General Grant entirely easy concerning all offen- 



VICKSBURG. 268 

sive movements by the enemy in the immediate future. 
He now turned his attention to the next great move 
on the chessboard of war in that part of the country, — 
the capture of Vicksburg. 

Vicksburg by nature and by the art of the military 
engineer was a veritable Gibraltar, at least on its front. 
The town stands on a high, almost precipitous, bluff, 
overlooking the Mississippi River at a point where that 
mighty stream makes a sharp bend from west to east, 
and then from east to west again. The nature of this 
bend may be understood when it is remembered that 
the river passes around a tongue of land nearly three 
miles in length, and little more than a quarter of a 
mile across at the point where it joins the mainland. 
The extreme end of this tongue is known as Young's 
Point, and directly opposite Young's Point is the town 
or city of Vicksburg. 

The bluff and the hills on which the city stands, and 
by which it is surrounded, are composed of an argilla* 
ceous clay that can be hewn with an ax and quarried 
into blocks if desired. This quality rendered it an 
admirable material for building fortifications ; and dur- 
ing the siege it enabled the inhabitants to cut bomb- 
proof caves and shelters, to which they retired whenever 
the cannon-balls and shells rained inconveniently upon 
them. Before the surrender of Memphis, the Rebels 
had made a stronghold of Vicksburg. After the fall of 



264 boys' life of general grant. 

that city they worked like beavers to strengthen the 
place, so that by the time General Grant was ready to 
move on the city, they could bid defiance to any direct 
assault. 

General Grant concentrated troops at Jackson, Tenn., 
whence he moved southward to La Grange in the 
same State. At the same time he concentrated 
other troops at Memphis ; his object being to compel a 
considerable force of Rebels to remain in his front, 
while he sent an expedition down the Mississippi to 
attack Vicksburg in the rear by making a landing 
on the Yazoo River, which comes into the Mississippi 
a few miles above Vicksburg. He thought that by 
landing there it would be possible to enter the place 
without serious difficulty. As for the front of Vicks- 
burg, an attack upon that was quite out of the question. 



MOVING ON VIOKSBURG. 265 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Vain attempt against Vicksburg. — Grant's long line of communications. 
— Dickey's raid. — Rebels capture Holly Springs. — Colonel Bowers 
and the muster-roll. — Grant falls back. — Movement from Memphis 
towards Vicksburg. — Canal-digging. — A misfortune. — Various ex- 
peditions. — Playing a joke on the Rebels. — Running the batteries. — 
Landing at Grand Gulf. — The first battle. 

In advancing south from Jackson, Grant had a long 
line of railway to protect, and it became longer every 
time he advanced. The whole country through which 
the railway ran was hostile to him and his movements, 
and it required a large force of men to keep the road 
open. All his supplies were drawn from Columbus ; 
and he realized that if he pushed southward to the 
parallel of Vicksburg, one-half of his army would be 
required to guard the line and keep it open. So he 
determined that the best way for attacking Vicksburg 
was by the Mississippi River ; in the meantime holding 
as many of the Rebel troops in front of him as he 
could. 

The expedition to attempt to take Vicksburg in the 
rear by way of the Yazoo River proved a failure. An 
attack was made at Haines's Bluff, thirteen miles from 
Vicksburg ; but contrary to expectation the place 



266 boys' life of general grant. 

proved to be strongly fortified and well defended. 
After four or five days up the Yazoo River, the expedi- 
tion retired, and went into camp at Milliken's Bend 
on the western bank of the Mississippi, twenty-five 
miles above Vicksburg. 

Meantime Grant had pushed south to Grenada, Miss. ; 
and he realized more than ever the difficulty of keeping 
open a long line in consequence of a disaster which 
happened to him one day. While he had his head- 
quarters at Grenada, he sent out a cavalry expedition 
to disable the Mobile and Ohio Railway ; it was com- 
manded by Colonel Dickey, who returned on the 19th 
of December. He immediately reported to General 
Grant, and said he had effectually torn up many miles 
of the road, burned bridges, and did all the destruction 
in his power. 

Grant listened quietly to the report, showing no 
great interest until Dickey remarked that at one point 
he crossed the rear of a Rebel column which was esti- 
mated at about ten thousand strong, and was reported 
to be moving rapidly towards the North. 

As Dickey said these words. Grant sprung from 
his chair, rushed to his desk, and wrote out an order. 
Calling for one of his aids, he said, — 

" Telegraph that order immediately I " 

It was to all commanders along the line north of 
Grenada, and told them to call in all their detach- 



CAPTURE OF HOLLY SPRINGS. 267 

ments, exercise the utmost vigilance, and if attacked, 
to defend their posts at all hazards. 

The orders were immediately telegraphed. Grant 
was in a fever of excitement all that day and the 
next. He expected some important intelligence, and 
did not have long to wait for it. 

All the commanders acted promptly upon the order 
with a single exception ; and that was at Holly Springs, 
Miss. He was a man who took things easily; and 
when the order came he read it, and then waited until 
next morning before obeying it. 

It turned out that Holly Springs was the objective 
point of the Rebel column which Colonel Dickey 
reported. Holly Springs had been made the principal 
depot of supplies for Grant's army, and contained 
large quantities of provisions, forage, and war ma- 
terial generally. The Rebels appeared there one morn- 
ing, and held possession of the place until nightfall. 
They destroyed millions of dollars worth of property, 
carried away some of the garrison as prisoners, and 
paroled others. They endeavored to parole every- 
body, as they did not want the bother of taking 
prisoners; but the Union soldiers understood the sit- 
uation, and most of them refused to be paroled. 

Colonel Bowers of Grant's staff had been sent to 
Holly Springs on special duty; and one evening he 
was occupied making a roll of the strength, sup- 



268 boys' life of general grant. 

plies, and location of every post in Grant's depart- 
ment. Such a document would have been worth 
thousands of dollars to the Rebel commander, and 
Bowers knew this well. At a late hour he finished 
the paper, rolled it up, and placed it on the mantel 
above the fireplace. The night was cold, and he told 
the sentry to replenish the fire from time to time. 

Early the next morning he was waked by an al- 
tercation in front of his door. He stepped from his 
room, and found that two men were trying to dis- 
arm the sentinel. It took but a glance to tell him 
that the men w^ere Rebel soldiers, and he quickly 
drew the inference that the Rebels held the town. 

Instantly he jumped back to his room, and threw 
that precious roll of manuscript into the fire which 
had unfortunately burned very low ; then he returned 
to the door, and parleyed with the captors so as to 
give the paper a chance to burn. The coals were 
almost dead, and it seemed as if that paper would 
never kindle into a blaze. He kept on talking 
with his captors, telling them where they would find 
whisky, tobacco, and other things of which some 
men are fond, and in various ways entertained them 
until he saw the paper burst into flame. Just 
then the men came into the office and the blaze 
attracted their attention. They tried to save the 
paper, but it was already consumed. 



MARCHING TO MEMPHIS. 269 

General Van Dorn was at the head of the raid, 
and Bowers was taken before him. He found Van 
Dorn reading Grant's order-book containing the or- 
ders for the battles of luka and Corinth. Van Dorn 
was very much interested in these orders, as he com- 
manded in both battles. He carried the book away 
with him, and it was never recovered. 

After this disaster, Grant withdrew his army to 
Holly Springs, and then marched across country to 
Memphis, where he began in earnest his movement 
for the capture of Vicksburg by way of the Mis- 
sissippi. He said afterward that if he had known 
how easily an army of thirty thousand could have 
lived upon the country without any base of supplies, 
he would have marched southward, and entered Vicks- 
burg by the rear, which at the time was not well 
fortified, all attention being given to the front. Down 
to that time there had been no example of an army 
of such magnitude subsisting in an enemy's country, 
and he did not therefore attempt it. As already 
stated, a portion of the army was already at Milli- 
ken's Bend, near Vicksburg. As fast as the divis- 
ions and brigades arrived at Memphis from the in- 
terior, they were put on steamboats and transported to 
the camp stretching from Milliken's Bend to Young s 
Point, opposite Vicksburg; and there the army re- 
mained for several weeks. 



270 boys' life of general grant. 

The fleet which had captured New Orleans, and 
turned the city over to General Butler and his land 
troops, moved up the river with little opposition as far 
as Vicksburg. Some of the vessels ran past the batter- 
ies and anchored above Young's Point, where they met 
the fleet of gunboats from above. The land forces fol- 
lowed this fleet, and took possession of Young's Point. 
General Williams, who commanded this force, originated 
the idea of digging a ditch across the neck of Young's 
Point and opening a navigable channel, so that boats 
might pass up and down without danger from the 
batteries of Vicksburg. His idea w^as to make a ditch 
sufficiently large to give a depth of a few feet of water, 
and then turn the river into it. It was thought that 
the rapid current would wash away the earth on both 
sides and soon make a navigable channel. 

General Williams's troops dug a ditch which had a 
depth of only a few inches below the surface of the 
water. The river was let in, but it refused to cut away 
the earth ; and after a time General Williams was or- 
dered to Port Hudson, farther down the river, and the 
plan was abandoned. 

When General Grant arrived, he professed great faith 
in the ditch idea, and promptly set a large force of men 
at work to enlarge the little channel which Williams 
had made. As the general had faith in the ditch, his 
subordinates had it likewise. They had good reason 



CUTTING A CANAL. 271 

for it, as channels had been made across necks of land 
in several places along the great river in just the 
manner described. A small channel was dug so as to 
let in a foot or two of water, and the river "did the 
rest." An old resident described to the writer the 
cutting of Raccourci Bend, where the river formerly 
made a sweep of twenty-eight miles to get around a 
point whose neck was less than half a mile across. 

"The channel that was cut," said he, "was about ten 
feet wide ; and when it was opened there were four or 
five feet of water in it. The river was rising, but for 
the first day it did not cut away much earth. The 
second day it rose more, and we began to see the bank 
crumble. By the morning of the third day the channel 
was two hundred feet wide ; and every few minutes you 
could see a big piece of earth tumbling over into it. 
In four days from the time the water was let in, there 
was a good big channel, navigable for the largest 
steamboats; and one of them came up the river that 
day, and went through it." 

For the greater part of its length, the Mississippi 
River is the dividing line between States. Thus, it 
separates Iowa and Missouri from Illinois, Kentucky 
from Tennessee, and Mississippi from Louisiana. The 
main channel is the dividing line ; and consequently 
when a so-called cut-off becomes the main channel, 
property is transferred from one State to another. Be- 



272 boys' life of general grant. 

fore the war, a plantation in Missouri was thus sent 
over into Illinois by the action of the river itself. Tlie 
slaves on that plantation were liberated by the action 
of the river. "Thus, you see," said the man who had 
narrated the circumstance to the writer, as he pointed 
out the locality, " thus you see, sir, the elements them- 
selves are in favor of freedom." 

At one time Grant had as many as four thousand 
men working on the ditch, with an equipment of carts, 
horses, and dredges. Worked was pushed, and pro- 
gressed rapidly until the pressure of the water broke 
the dam at the head of the canal, and inundated it 
completely. The men who were in the canal at the 
time escaped ; but the carts and dredges were over- 
whelmed, and many horses were drowned. Work was 
abandoned ; but it was understood that it would be re- 
sumed as soon as the river fell sufficiently to permit the 
buildinp- of a new dam and the removal of the water. 

The Rebels established batteries opposite the lower 
end of the canal so as to command it completely ; and 
General Grant proceeded to erect similar batteries on 
his side of the river in order to silence the Rebel fire. 
It turned out afterward that, while professing great 
faith in the canal project, Grant had no faith in it 
whatever. It began and ended in eddies in the river, 
and therefore there would have been no current to 
wash it out. Even if finished, the Rebels would pre- 



KEEPING UP SPIRITS. 273 

vent its use to any great extent by the batteries before 
mentioned. But anything was better than idleness ; 
as long as the army had faith in the canal, and were 
occupied on it, they were not likely to lose heart, as 
would have been the case had the troops lain idle for 
weeks and weeks waiting for the river to fall. Nothing 
could be done with the Mississippi at the height it then 
was ; but it was difficult to make everybody understand 
the state of affairs. 

With the same spirit, and with the same objects in 
view, Grant sent various expeditions to open possible 
water-Avays by means of the lakes, rivers, and bayous on 
the western side of the Mississippi Valley all the way 
from Memphis to the Gulf of Mexico. One of his 
schemes was to cut the levee or artificial bank of the 
Mississippi at Lake Providence near Milliken's Bend. 
The water thus let in flooded an immense area, and 
such was its depth that a steamboat was floated over 
cotton- and cornfields several miles from the banks of 
the great river. The scheme was to reach the Red 
River, and afterwards the Mississippi, by following a 
series of lakes and bayous till the first named river 
was reached. One after another of these plans were 
carried out as far as they could be carried. All re- 
sulted in failure as to their ostensible objects ; but 
on the other hand they were all successful in keeping 
the army occupied and in good spirits, and at the same 



274 boys' life of general grant. 

time hoodwinking the enemy, and greatly disturbing 
his peace of mind. 

The real movement for the capture of Vicksburg was 
all the time being perfected in Grant's mind; but he 
dared not mention it to any one, not even to an officer 
of his staff. He discussed with Admiral Porter the 
possibility of running the batteries with gunboats and 
transports, but gave no hint as to the use he would 
make of them in case they got safely through below 
Vicksburg. 

One of the gunboats, the Indianola, had run the bat- 
teries some time before, and after a series of adventures 
had been captured by the Rebels, and was tied up at 
the shore below Vicksburg undergoing repairs. Porter 
suggested that a dummy should be sent down to feel 
the batteries, and find out where they were. Grant 
assented to the idea, and an old coal-barge was fitted up 
to resemble a steamboat. She had chimneys made of 
pork-barrels piled endwise, one on top of another ; and 
in the topmost barrel of each chimney there was a 
quantity of tar, mixed with sand and sawdust so that it 
would smoke furiously while burning. Furnaces were 
built of old brick, and filled with a mixture of tar and 
coal ; and a small out-building from a plantation was 
stood up between the chimneys as a pilot-house. 

One dark night this bogus steamboat was towed 
down to within two miles of Vicksburg, and then 



"A YANKEE TEICK.'* 275 

allowed to drift with the current. The batteries 
opened fire on her, the long roll was beaten, and the 
whole garrison was under arms. A Confederate gun- 
boat lying at the Vicksburg landing-place fled in terror 
down the river for f-ear of being destroyed by the terri- 
ble monster. All the batteries fired repeatedly at the 
dreaded foe, and the Rebels blew up the captured gun- 
boat Indianola for fear of losing her. The stranger 
finally went aground on a shoal close to the Vicksburg 
shore, and about three miles below the town. The 
reader may imagine the disgust of the Rebels, from the 
highest general down to the lowest private soldier, 
when they found how they had been deceived. 

Shortly after this exploit the wooden steamer. Queen 
of the West, which had been fitted up as a ram, went 
past the batteries of Vicksburg in the gray of the early 
dawn. In passing she delivered a blow with her prow 
and fired several shots from her guns at the Rebel gun- 
boat City of Vicksburg, which was lying at the land- 
ing. During the delay thus caused, and while she was 
under the fire of the batteries, she was penetrated by a 
dozen or more shots. She escaped with little injury, 
and created a great deal of havoc among the Rebel 
transports and the supply-boats on the Mississippi and 
Red Rivers, until she was finally captured. 

Her exploit led the river men to say that any of the 
boats could run the batteries just as well as the Queen 
of the West. 



276 BOYS* LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

Early in April the grand movement began. Grant 
marched a division of his army down the west bank of 
the Mississippi to New Carthage, which is several miles 
below Vicksburg. On the night of the 16th there was 
a commotion in Vicksburg. Porter's flag-ship, the Ben- 
ton, led the fleet of gunboats and transports past the 
batteries amid the fire from the Rebel guns which lined 
the banks of the Mississippi for miles. The gunboats 
engaged the batteries, w^hile the transports, with their 
boilers protected by bales of hay, hugged the Louisi- 
ana shore as closely as possible. The Rebels burned 
great bonfires and set houses ablaze, so that the whole 
river was lighted up. 

For two hours and more the procession of river craft 
kept on, and during all that time the thunder of the 
cannon could be heard for many miles around. One 
transport was set on fire by an exploding shell and 
burned. Her crew took to small boats and escaped. 
None of the men on the gunboats were killed, and only 
eight were wounded. On the transports not a single 
man was injured. The fleet arrived at New Carthage 
before daylight, and was warmly greeted by the divis- 
ion of Grant's army that waited there. 

A week later another expedition of six transports 
and twelve barges ran the batteries in the same way. 
One steamer and six barges were sunk, and one man 
killed and five or six wounded. The soldiers began to 



BATTLE OF GRAND GULF. 277 

hold the batteries in great contempt, and many of them 
said they would much rather take the risk of running 
down the river on steamboats than endure the fatigue 
of marching overland to New Carthage. 

One division followed another, and in a very short 
time Grant had the bulk of his army concentrated 
below Vicksburg. His next move was to capture Grand 
Gulf, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, and com- 
manding the mouth of the Big Black River. Until it 
was in Union hands Grant was unable to make the 
next move for the capture of Vicksburg. 

McClernand's division was embarked on transports 
ready to move when the signal was given. The gun- 
boat fleet steamed down the river, and attacked the 
batteries at Grand Gulf; but the attack proved a fail- 
ure. The battle lasted five hours; and at the end of 
that time not a gun of the enemy had been silenced, 
but the fleet had suffered badly. On board the Ben- 
ton, the admiral's flag-ship, a shell exploded, killing 
and wounding more than twenty men. Every vessel of 
the gunboat fleet was hit repeatedly, one of them more 
than forty times. Porter drew off at the time men- 
tioned, and was joined by Grant, who had watched the 
fight from the deck of a small tug. Porter declared 
that it was impossible to take the batteries with the 
gunboats. The position of the upper batteries was 
such that they could not engage them effectively. 



278 boys' life of general grant. 

"All riglit," replied Grant; "you've done your 
best; you may attack again after dark this evening. 
You will thus draw the attention of the Rebels, and 
while you are engaging them, the transports can run 
quietly past and make a landing below Grand Gulf. 

Grant's plan was carried out, and the transports 
slipped by, quite unknown to the Rebels. As many 
men as the transports could carry were jferried over to 
Bruinsburg, where there was a good landing ; and Gen- 
eral Grant had learned that there was a good road 
running back to Port Gibson, where the Rebels had a 
small garrison. 

The movement was successfully carried out, and 
without opposition. Two divisions of Grant's army 
landed on the eastern bank of the Mississippi with 
good roads in front of them, which would place them 
in the rear of Grand Gulf and also of Vicksburg. 
Transportation was limited, and the army stripped for 
a rapid campaign. Every ounce of weight that could 
possibly be spared was left behind. The soldiers 
carried their clothing, arms, and ammunition, and 
hardly anything else. The leader set the example; 
he took no tent for himself, nor even a change of 
clothing. His entire personal baggage consisted of a 
tooth-brush, a pouch of tobacco, a pocket-knife, and a 
briar-wood pipe. For the first day he had no horse, 
and neither did any of his staff. On the second day 



MEETING THE ENEMY. 279 

the horses were brought over, and the officers had their 
usual mounts. 

The first encounter with the enemy took place 
when the head of McClernand's division was about 
eight miles back from the river. It began with a 
skirmish that speedily developed into a battle; and 
the battle became so strong that it was necessary to 
order up Logan's division to take part in the affair. 
Logan came promptly; and with his customary dash 
and enthusiasm he rushed into the fight, followed by 
his equally enthusiastic soldiers. 

The battle was obstinately contested, but it re- 
sulted favorably to the Union arms. The last posi- 
tion for which the enemy contended was a ravine 
among the hills; and in trying to take it the attack- 
ing force suffered a heavy loss. General McPherson 
was sent around to make an attack in the rear. His 
movement was completely successful. He reached the 
Rebel rear quite undiscovered ; and when his soldiers 
burst from their concealment with a loud yell, the 
enemy took to flight immediately. 

Fighting continued until nightfall, and then the 
army halted. The soldiers bivouacked on the ground 
as best they could; and most of their officers did like- 
wise, as all were without tents or baggage. Grant 
and his staff slept in a fine house, which had been 
deserted by its white owners and left in charge of 



280 boys' life of general grant. 

the negro servants. The negroes gave their guests 
an excellent supper and breakfast, and furnished 
them with the softest of beds on which to sleep. In 
the morning two large white horses were discovered 
in the stable, and brought forward for the use of the 
staff. By this time the staff was pretty well mounted, 
and from that time on there was no lack of horses 
around general headquarters. 



CAPTURE OF PORT GIBSON. 281 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Intercepted dispatches. — The march continued. — Battle of Raymond. 

— Capture of Jackson. — Destruction of rebel factories and store- 
houses. — General Joseph E. Johnston. — Pemberton comes out to 
meet Grant.— Battle of Champion Hills, and defeat of rebels. — Pem- 
berton retires to Vicksburg. — Investment of the place. — The siege. 

— Exploding a mine. — Famine in Vicksburg. 

Port Gibson was captured and occupied the next 
morning. In the telegraph office was found a dis- 
patch from General Bo wen, the commander at Grand 
Gulf, to General Pemberton at Vicksburg, urging the 
latter to hurry up reinforcements. While General 
Grant was reading this message, a flag of truce came 
from General Bowen, asking for a suspension of hos- 
tilities, and permission to enter the Union lines to 
bury the dead and remove the wounded. Grant ac- 
knowledged to Bowen the receipt of his request, and 
referred in his letter to the captured dispatch, which 
suggested to him that the flag of truce was merely a 
pretext to gain time. Consequently he declined 
Bowen 's request, assuring him that the dead would 
be buried and the wounded cared for. 

The capture of Port Gibson caused the evacuation 
of Grand Gulf, which speedily became the base of 



282 boys' life of general grant. 

supplies for Grant's army. Stores were accumulated 
there as fast as they could be brought down from 
above Vicksburg, and pushed forward to Grant's 
army; so that it was fairly well supplied. Grant 
lived upon the country as far as it was possible to 
do so; and foraging parties were constantly kept at 
work to bring in all the cattle that could be found, 
together with all other material suitable for food. 

But the plan was a bold one, — more than a bold 
one; it was audacious. Grant was moving towards 
the rear of a city which contained at that time more 
troops than he had under his immediate command, 
and reinforcements to a number not ascertained were 
moving in the direction of Vicksburg. It was necessary 
to strike the line of railway leading into Vicksburg 
before these reinforcements could arrive. If he could 
light the enemy in detail he might win ; but if he al- 
lowed them to unite with Pemberton's forces in Vicks- 
burg, the combined strength would be too much for him. 

Grant decided to cut loose from his base, take as 
much provisions as his men could carry, and move 
as rapidly as possible, so as to intercept the rein- 
forcements that were coming from the east. He sent 
word to General Halleck that he should not com- 
municate any more with Grand Gulf, and could not 
say at what point he might next be heard from. 
The course of the Big Black River, which by the 



MOVING TOWARDS JACKSON, MISS. 283 

way is a very crooked stream, is generally south-west. 
Grant marched along its eastern side, thus keeping 
the river between himself and Pemberton, and mak- 
ing of it a good protection for his left flank. 

Grant reached the line of railway at Edwards's 
Depot, and concentrated his whole army at that point 
and at Bolton, a short distance to the north and 
east. At a small town called Raymond, McPherson's 
division on the extreme right encountered a force 
of about five thousand Rebels under General Gregg; 
and they made a stubborn fight, which lasted three 
hours and more. At the end of the battle the Rebels 
retreated; and somewhat to Grant's surprise they re- 
treated to the east, and not toward Vicksburg. He 
immediately surmised that reinforcements were com- 
ing from the east; and he decided at once that it 
would never do, even if he should defeat Pemberton, 
to allow such a force in bis rear. 

His original intention was to press in the direc- 
tion of Vicksburg, and send a small expedition to 
Jackson to destroy the supplies there ; but on hear- 
ing this intelligence he instantly changed all his 
plans, and issued orders for the entire army to move 
in the direction of Jackson, the capital of Missis- 
sippi, and the junction of several railways, to de- 
stroy whatever military stores had been accumulated 
there, and disable the railways. 



284 boys' life of general grant. 

Before the movement began, Grant learned from the 

country people, particularly from the negroes, that 
there Avas a considerable force at Jackson ready to 
!ight him. He pressed forward; and his advance en- 
countered the enemy at Clinton, several miles to the 
west of Jackson. This was on the 13th of May ; 
and on that day General Joseph E. Johnston arrived 
at Jackson, and assumed command of all the Confed- 
erate troops in Mississippi. Grant expected that 
Johnston would send word to Pemberton to come out 
from Vicksburg and attack Grant's rear, while John- 
ston himself would attack in front. 

" At any rate," Grant said, " that is what I should 
do under similar circumstances." It turned out that 
Johnston did give exactly such an order. 

By the morning of the 14th of May, Johnston had 
a force of eleven thousand men under his command, 
confronted by about twenty-five thousand of Grant's 
troops. It rained heavily during the night of the 
13th and the morning of the 14th, putting the roads 
into a horrible condition. The ground was covered 
with water; but the soldiers trudged steadily along, 
and were ready for the work required of them. As 
they moved in upon the city, they found it well 
fortified. The two divisions of the Union army 
stretched out, and lapped around the fortifications on 
either side. Johnston saw that his enemy was much 



JACKSON CAPTURED. 285 

stronger than himself; and after a little fighting he 
ordered a retreat, leaving most of his artillery to be 
captured. With slight opposition the Union troops 
pressed forward, and a little past noon the Union 
flag was flying over the State House of Mississippi. 

The retreating Rebels set fire to their store-houses, 
and destroyed a large amount of army supplies. 
Nearly all business had stopped, and the town was 
quiet, although there was one manufactory of tent- 
cloth in full operation. The operatives, mostly women, 
remained at their posts; and the manager attended to 
his duties as though nothing had happened. Accom- 
panied by several of his officers, General Grant visited 
this factory ; and after looking on for a while as the 
machines were turning out rolls of cloth with the 
letters '' C. S. A." woven into each piece at regular 
intervals, he suggested that it was time to stop the 
business. He told the manager to notify the opera- 
tives to quit work immediately, and that they might 
take away, for their own use, as much clothing as 
they could carry. They obeyed the order with alac- 
rity ; and as soon as they had departed the factory 
was set on fire and consumed, together with several 
hundred bales of cotton that were piled around it. 

General Grant intercepted a dispatch from John- 
ston to Pemberton, telling him to come out and at- 
tack Grant's army. Satisfied that the dispatch was 



L.S6 boys' life of general grant. 

genuine, Grant made a dispersion of his troops to 
prevent the success of Johnston's plan. Through the 
inhabitants of the country he kept fully informed of 
the movements of Johnston and Pemberton ; and he 
maneuvered, so as to bring on an engagement at 
Champion Hills. 

Pemberton selected that position for an engage- 
ment, and it was a very good selection indeed. It 
is one of the highest of the hills in the whole region 
about, and commanded the ground in every direction. 
There are roads running from Champion Hills to 
several points of the compass ; and Pemberton's forces 
covered all these I'oads, so that the enemy could by 
no possibility make an advance towards the hill with- 
out being discovered. 

The Rebel pickets were driven in early in the fore- 
noon of the 16th of May ; and it wasn't long before 
the skirmishing developed into a battle, which soon 
became severe, especially with McPherson's and Lo- 
gan's divisions. At one time Logan's division was 
between Pemberton and Vicksburg, so that tlie Rebel 
line of retreat was cut off ; but neitlier Grant nor 
Logan knew it at the time. The fighting became 
so severe on the other front of the battle, that Gen- 
eral Hovey, who commanded the assault, sent for re- 
inforcements. In order to sti^ngthen him, a portion 
of Logan's division was moved around until it met 



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Battle of Fredericksburg. 



PEMBERTON DEFEATED. 28T 

Hovey's flank. This movement uncovered the line 
of retreat towards Vicksburg, whereupon the enemy 
embraced the opportunity, and retreated in the direc- 
tion of their fortifications. 

The battle lasted altogether about four hours, and 
before it faiily opened there were at least two hours 
of pretty heavy skirmishing. About fifteen thousand 
Union troops were actually engaged in the fight ; and 
the loss in killed and wounded was fully twenty-five 
hundred. Pemberton's loss was over three thousand 
killed and wounded, and about three thousand prison- 
ers. If General Grant had been able to bring np all 
his troops, tlie probability is that he would have cap- 
tured tlie whole force that was with Pemberton. One 
division of Pemberton's army, under General Loring, 
did not get back to Vicksburg at all. Its line of 
retreat was cut off; and it was obliged to march to 
the south, and by a circuitous route join the forces 
under Johnston. 

Pemberton fell back to Vicksburg, contrary to the 
orders he had received from Johnston. Johnston di- 
rected him that, if unsuccessful in an encounter with 
the enemy, he was to make a night march to the 
Big Black, and by moving north and east make a 
junction with Johnston. Of course tliat movement 
would have abandoned Vicksburg; but it would have 
avoided a worse calamity, that of surrendering the 
place six weeks later with all its garrison. 



I 



288 boys' life of general grant. 

The Rebels made a stand at the crossing of the 
Big Black, but were quickly dispersed after a sharp 
fight of less than an hour. The enemy succeeded in 
burning the bridge just after crossing; and as the 
river was high, the advance of the Union forces was 
temporarily stopped. Three temporary bridges were 
constructed, — one of rafts fastened together, and an- 
other of cotton-bales similarly fastened. The third 
one Avas made by felling trees from opposite sides of 
the river, so that they would fall across the stream 
with their branches interlaced and without entirely 
severing the trees from their stumps. The interla- 
cing branches were firmly fastened together, and then 
the bridge was built above with the trees to support 
it. In less than twenty hours from the time the 
Rebels were driven away, all three of the bridges 
were finished, and the troops were marching across. 
Had it not been for the destruction of the original 
bridge, it is probable that Grant's troops would have 
pursued so closely on the demoralized and retreating 
enemy that they would have entered Vicksburg and 
captured it without serious opposition. The time 
lost in their advance by the destruction of the bridge 
was of great value to the Confederates. 

There was no more serious fighting between the 
two armies until the rear of Vicksburg was reached, 
and the right wing of the army rested on Haines's 



''HARD-TACK." 289 

Bluff, and opened communication with the gunboat 
fleet, and the transports that were waiting there with 
supplies for the army. Immediately roads were built; 
and as fast as the teams could move them, cases 
and barrels and bags and boxes of provisions were 
brought forward and distributed. Cheer upon cheer 
greeted the commissary wagons as they arrived and 
discharged their burdens. The men had now been 
out more than twenty days, with only five days' 
rations. The}^ had lived upon the country, and on 
the Avhole had lived well; but they longed for reg- 
ular supplies of the bacon and other food to which 
they were accustomed. 

Just before the provisions came. General Grant 
happened to be riding along the line when one of 
the soldiers said under his breath, " Hard -tack." 
The cry was taken up by the others, and very quickly 
it was in every mouth. General Grant appreciated 
the situation; and stopping his horse for a moment, 
he said, — 

"Boys, we're building roads to bring you provis- 
ions just as soon as we can get them to you." 

This was enough. Cheer upon cheer rose from 
the long line, and the cheering did not die away until 
the general was out of sight. 

General Grant drew his lines around Vicksburg; 
and when he did so he had fewer men in his com- 



290 

mand than were afterwards surrendered b}^ General 
Pemberton. He sent to Washington asking for re- 
inforcements, meantime strengthening his position as 
much as possible. There was constant skirmishing 
for several days, and on one or two occasions it rose 
almost to the extent of a battle. On the 22d of 
May an assault was made on all parts of the line; 
and at several points the troops succeeded in reach- 
ing the enemy's parapets and planting their flags 
upon them; but at no place were they able to enter. 
The fighting did not end until nightfall, when the 
troops retired from the positions they had gained. 
Thus ended the last assault upon Vicksburg. 

Now began the siege. The line of investment was 
more than fifteen miles long, extending from Haines's 
Bluff, above Vicksburg, to Warrenton, below the 
city. The Rebel line was about seven miles long. 
Grant had far too few troops to hold such a long 
line ; and in addition, he had to watch out for John- 
ston, who might attack him at any moment. Re- 
inforcements were needed, and they came promptly. 
General Halleck appreciated the situation fully, and 
hurried reinforcements and supplies to Grant with 
great rapidity. 

The investing lines around Vicksburg were formed 
on the 18th of May. In twenty days Grant's army 
had marched two hundred miles, and fought five 



COURTESIES OF THE SIEGE. 291 

battles ; it had taken six thousand prisoners, and had 
killed and Avounded as many more; it had captured 
ninety pieces of artillery, destroyed the Rebel store- 
houses and factories at Jackson, cut off Pemberton's 
communications, and bottled him up in Vicksburg. 
And all this had been accomplished with a loss in 
killed, wounded, and missing of a little over four 
thousand men ! 

The siege-works were pushed all along the line, 
and in some places besieged and besiegers were only 
a few yards apart. There was constant skirmishing 
and sharp-shooting on both sides, and many men fell 
under the bullets of their enemies. The ditches were 
so close together that the opposing pickets frequently 
talked to each other in a friendly and familiar way, 
and sometimes the Union men exchanged coffee or 
tea for packages of tobacco. Tobacco was abundant 
in the Confederate lines; but coffee and tea were 
very scarce, so that the trade was generally to the 
advantage of the Northern side. 

Sometimes there was quite an exchange of rough 
wit in the dialogues between the opposing sides. 
One day a newspaper writer who had gone to the 
Union front made a memorandum of a conversation 
like this : — 

" What are you-uns doin' out there ? " a Rebel picket 
called out. 



292 boys' life of general grant. 

" Guarding thirty thousand of you prisoners, and 
making you board yourselves," was the reply. 

" Good enough," retorted the Rebel. " Why don't 
you come and take Vicksburg?" 

" We don't want to just now," replied the Union 
soldier ; " Grant is waiting for the transportation to 
take you up North." 

" We've got a lot of your old flags here ; what shall 
we do with them ? ' ' 

"Make shirts of 'em," replied the Northerner. 
*' They'll look better than your old butternut." 

" Will you trade coffee for tobacco ? " 

" Certainly," was the answer, " just to oblige you, 
but we've got lots of both. Fling 'er over here." 

Occasionally it would be agreed among the soldiers 
that they would suspend firing for a stipulated number 
of minutes. That would give an opportunity for a 
good-natured parley in full view of each other. On 
several occasions of this sort the Rebel soldiers took 
the opportunity to escape into the Union lines, where- 
upon General Pemberton issued an order prohibiting 
any more of these friendly arrangements. 

Pemberton was not an able commander, but he was 
thoroughly in sympathy with the rebellion. Notwith- 
standing these circumstances, he was frequently ac- 
cused by his own people of sympathizing with the 
North. He endeavored to set these rumors at rest 



FAMINE IN VICKSBUUG. 293 

one day by a speech to his men, of which the following 
is an extract : — 

" You have heard that I was incompetent and a traitor, 
and that it was my intention to sell Vicksburg. When 
the last pound of beef, bacon, and flour, the last grain of 
corn, the last cow, and hog, and horse, and mule, shall 
have been consumed, and the last man shall have perished 
in the trenches, then, and only then, will I surrender 
Vicksburg ! " , 

Within a week after the beginning of the siege, there 
were evidences of famine in Vicksburg. The soldiers 
were put on half-rations, and the same rule was adopted 
in regard to citizens. Several times General Pember- 
ton endeavored to negotiate with General" Grant to 
send away the citizens, together with their families ; 
but each time the proposition was emphatically refused. 
Grant said : — 

"I am sorry for the unfortunate citizens; but this 
is war, and we are besieging Vicksburg. The more 
people that remain there, the sooner must the city 
surrender. If I allow Pemberton to send away all 
tioncombatants, it will prolong the siege. My inten- 
tion is to shorten it. Therefore everybody now in 
the place must remain there ! ' 

Flour rose in the besieged city to one thousand dol- 
lars a barrel, in Confederate currency, and meat sold 
for two hundred and fifty dollars a pound. Diseases 



294 boys' life of general gran^t. 

caused by hunger, fatigue, and terror added to the 
liorrors of the condition of the besieged. All parts 
of the city were reached by the Union shot and shell. 
Soldiers in the hospitals, citizens in their offices, and 
men, women, and children in their homes, were killed 
by the shells. Many of the citizens resorted to caves 
dug in the bluffs on Avhich Vicksburg stands. Some 
of the excavations were of considerable size, and were 
furnished with carpets, beds, chairs, tables, and other 
things brought from the houses. ]\Iost of these caves 
were bomb-proof, but unhappily all were iiot so. Oc- 
casionally a shot or shell penetrated through to the 
interior of a cave, and killed or wounded the occupants. 
In one case a child, sleeping by its mother's side, was 
torn in pieces by a shell which came through the roof 
of the cave and then exploded. 

So great was tlie scarcity of food that every cat and 
dog around Vicksburg was slaughtered and eaten. In 
many instances rats and mice were caught for the same 
purpose ; and some of the poorer people, together with 
some of the soldiers, became experienced ratters in the 
struggle to support life. It was learned that some of 
the inhabitants had secreted quantities of food in their 
houses previous to the siege, in expectation of a calam- 
ity of the very kind which had arrived. General Pem- 
berton ordered a search of all suspected houses, and 
a seizure for army purposes of everything that should 



SUFFERINGS OF BESIEGERS AND BESIEGED. 295 

be discovered. For the last two days of the siege 
everybody was reduced to one-quarter rations ; and 
there was loud complaining by the soldiers, who Avere 
nearly ready for mutiny. Nearly every horse and 
mule in Vicksburg had been slaughtered. The only 
horses that escaped were those of General Pemberton 
and his staff, together with those of the highest offi- 
cers serving under him. 

Grant's army was well supplied with provisions, 
which were landed at Haines's Bluff, and then brought 
by wagons for distribution along the rear of the line. 
The soldiers suffered greatly from dysentery, caused 
by the unwholesome water which they were compelled 
to use. The officers were in the same category as the 
men, and some of them were ill the most of the time. 
The negroes living in the neighborhood brought in 
some roots and herbs as remedies; one of them, called 
dittany, was especially recommended, and its effica- 
ciousness was shown by a few trials. Under its heal- 
ing influence many of tlie sufferers in the army 
recovered their health in a short time. 

After digging twelve miles of trenches, and getting 
two hundred pieces of artillery in position, Grant 
caused a mine to be made under Fort Hill, one of the 
strongest points of the Rebel defenses. It was dug 
underground, from inside the Union lines, directly 
under the hill ; and then branches or galleries were 



296 boys' life of general grant. 

extended in several directions, the intention being to 
blow up the entire hill. Nearly a ton of powder was 
placed in the galleries and connected by fuses. 

When all was ready, a cannonade was ordered along 
the whole line, and then the mine was exploded. Only 
a portion of the powder ignited, and consequently all 
of the fort was not blown up. A great many timbers, 
rocks, and guns, together with all the men then in 
that part of the fort, were blown into the air, accom- 
panied by a vast cloud of smoke. Most of the men 
thus blown up were killed, but not all. Some came 
down only slightly hurt; and one negro, who was 
working underground at that time, fell within our 
lines. He gathered himself up, and to the astonish- 
ment of everybody who saw him, was practically un- 
hurt, but terribly frightened. An officer asked him, 
as he slowly recovered his senses, how far up in 
tlie air he went. 

"I don' know, sah," he replied; "but I tink about 
free miles." 

" Do you want to go back to Yicksburg ? " 

"No, sah; as long's Fs come here I done reckon 
I'll stay. De Lord hab sent me." 

And he staid. 



BLOWING UP A FORT. 29( 



CHAPTER XX. 

Result of the mine. — The Lord and Joe Johnston. —A flag of truce. — 
Terms of surrender. — Vicksburg in Union hands. —Rudeness of Gen- 
eral Pemberton. — Grant's "Yankee trick. " — Surrender of Port 
Hudson. — Grant ordered to Cairo. — Commanding the grand military 
division of the Mississippi. —Grant at Chattanooga. —A state of siege. 
— Capture of Lookout Valley. — Charge of the mule brigade. 

The column of troops was ready to make an assault 
through the breach, but the mass of debris which fell 
back into the crater formed by the explosion greatly 
impeded their progress. The Rebels recoiled for a 
moment when the explosioii took place ; but they 
quickly rallied, and defeated all attempts of the North- 
ern men to enter. There was a sharp contest, in which 
the bayonet was used and many hand-to-hand fights 
took place. Hand grenades were thrown over on both 
sides until the supply w^as exhausted. As soon as it 
became apparent that the assault would not be suc- 
cessful, the troops that made it were withdrawn. 

One day a Rebel woman, who had been brought into 
Grant's presence, sneeringly asked liim how much 
longer it was going to take him to go into Vicksburg. 

'^I can't say exactly," he replied; ''but I shall stay 
]iere until I do, if it takes thirty years." 



298 boys' life of general grant. 

Several times during the siege, dispatches between 
Pemberton and Johnston were captured; they showed 
that Johnston intended to attack the besieging army, 
and thus relieve Pemberton. Johnston was known 
to be in the neighborhood of Jackson, and scouts were 
kept on the watch to ascertain if there was any move- 
ment in the direction of the besieged city. Grant 
had received large reinforcements ; and though he 
would not detach any of his troops from the siege, he 
ordered a strong force to be read}^ to march against 
Johnston in case he made an offensive movement. 
A Rebel officer in Yicksburg wrote to his wife a letter 
which was captured. At the close of the letter he 
said, '* We put our faith in the Lord, and expect Joe 
Johnston to come to our relief." In sending the 
order to one of his commanders to be ready in case 
of Johnston's advance. Grant added : — 

" They seem to p)ut a good deal of faith in the Lord 
and Joe Johnston, but you must whip Joe Johnston 
at least fifteen miles from here ! " 

As the end of June came, the army grew weary of 
the siege ; and though quite confident of capturing 
Yicksburg, the soldiers were very impatient. Grant 
determined to make another assault on the 4th of July, 
but he vv\as prevented from doing so by circumstances 
not altogether unforeseen. 

On the morning of the 3d a white flag appeared 



PROPOSALS FOR SURRENDER. 299 

at one part of the Rebel works. Of course all firing 
at that point ceased; and the Rebel General Bowen 
came forward to the Union lines, where he was blind- 
folded and taken to General A. J. Smith, who com- 
manded at that point. General Bowen asked for an 
interview with General Grant, but his request was 
promptly denied; thereupon he presented the follow- 
ing letter : — 

Headquarters, Vicksburg, 

July 3, 1863. 
Major-General Grant, 

Commanding United States Forces. 
General, — I have the honor to propose to you an armis- 
tice of hours, with a view to arranging terms for the 

capitulation of Vicksburg. To this end, if agreeable to 
you, I will appoint three commissioners to meet a Uke 
number to be named by yourself, at such place and hour as 
you may find convenient. I make this proposition to save 
the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be 
shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully able to 
maintain my position for a yet indefinite period. This 
communication will be handed to you, under a flag of 
truce by Major-General John S. Bowen. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J, C. PEMBERTON, 

Lieut. -Gen. 

White flags appeared all along the line, and in the 
constant fusillade and bombardment for the past six 
weeks, the stillness was almost oppressive. 



300 boys' life of general grant. 

In a verbal reply, Grant named three o'clock in 
the afternoon of that day as the time when he would 
meet Pemberton. At that hour Grant and several of 
his officers rode out from the lines, and halted under 
a small oak-tree. A few minutes later General 
Pemberton appeared, accompanied by General Bowen 
and another officer. Grant was well acquainted with 
both Pemberton and Bowen, having served with the 
former in Mexico, and lived as a near neighbor to 
the latter in St. Louis. He shook hands with both 
of them, and Bowen introduced to General Pemberton 
the Union officers that accompanied General Grant. 
Pemberton drew himself up with an air of dignity, 
and said : — 

"I've come to see if we can arrange terms for the 
surrender of Vicksburg. What is your demand?" 

"All the terms I have I stated in my letter of 
this morning," replied Grant. 

Pemberton answered with even more haughtiness, — 

"If that is so, the conference may terminate at 
once, and hostilities be resumed." 

" Very well," responded Grant ; " my army has never 
been in better condition to prosecute the siege." 

Pemberton turned as though he intended to be as 
good as his word; but General Bowen, who accom- 
panied him, interposed, and suggested that the matter 
be discussed further. To this Grant assented, and 



TERMS OF CAPITULATION. 301 

then he and Pemberton stepped aside from the rest. 
Grant was calmly smoking a cigar, and he motioned 
to Pemberton to sit down beside him on the ground. 
As they sat there talking, Grant remained motionless, 
while the Confederate leader nervously pulled up the 
thin grass around him. 

They talked together only a few minutes ; and then 
Grant called up McPherson and A. J. Smith, Avhile 
Pemberton called upon Bowen to join them. Grant 
adhered, though not with an air of absolute firmness, 
to his terms of unconditional surrender ; while Pember- 
ton insisted that the Union commander ought to be 
satisfied with the place, and the cannon, ammunition, 
and public stores which it contained. He reiterated 
that he had abundant provisions, and could hold out 
for a much longer period. The other three officers 
who had been called in made various suggestions, and 
in less than half an hour the terms of surrender were 
practically settled. Then the parties separated, Pem- 
berton going back to Vicksburg, and Grant returning 
to his headquarters to write out the conditions. 

There was further correspondence between Grant 
and Pemberton, and two or three hitches ; but before 
the day was ended the whole matter was completely 
arranged. The Rebel soldiers were to march out from 
Vicksburg, pile their guns and flags in front of the 
Union lines, and then march back again and remain in 



302 boys' life of general grant. 

their old camps until they were paroled. Officers 
were permitted to retain their side-arms and personal 
baofcraofe, and the soldiers were allowed all their cloth- 
ing, but nothing else. 

At eight o'clock the next morning, July 4, Logan's 
division marched into Vicksburg and took possession. 
His men fraternized at once with the Confederate sol- 
diers, talking to them in a most friendly way, and 
in numerous cases giving the hungry Rebels food from 
their haversacks. All through the town there were 
little groups of the Blue and the Gray; and at almost 
every step, while walking along the streets, one would 
encounter pairs of soldiei'S, Unioji and Confederate, 
chatting and strolling together as though they had 
been acquaintances of twenty years. The Confed- 
erates frequently assumed the position of hosts or 
guides, and pointed out to the strangers places of 
interest in the town. 

Grant gave orders for rations to be issued to the 
Confederate troops when asked for in proper form. 
Pemberton's statement that he had an abundance of 
provisions was, to say the least, a piece of boasting, 
as the garrison had been in a condition of starvation 
for several days. It is needless to say that the appli- 
cations for rations came verv qTTickl}^ 

There was loud and long-continued cheering through 
the entire leno-th of the Union lines whan the knowl- 



FOES TREATED GENEROUSLY. 303 

edge of the surrender became known. General Grant 
issued orders that there should be no cheering when 
the Confederate troops marched out and piled their 
guns, as agreed, in front of the Union lines. He felt 
that the men who made such a noble defense of the 
fortifications of Vicksburg, and had fought for the 
cause which they considered right, should not be humil- 
iated any more than was absolutely necessary ; and 
afterwards, when the troops had been paroled and were 
marched through the Union lines in the direction of 
Jackson, he repeated the order at all points where 
the line of march had been laid out. To his dogged 
persistency in attacking his foe, he added a heartfelt 
generosity to that same foe after he had surrendered. 

As soon as the terms of surrender were settled and 
the agreement signed. Grant sent the two divisions of 
his army which comprised the Fifteenth Corps in pur- 
suit of Johnston, who was known to be about half-way 
between Vicksburg and Jackson. Very quickly John- 
ston's army was broken, scattered, and in full retreat. 
It was pursued a considerable distance beyond Jackson, 
and put in such a condition that it was of little use 
afterwards as an army. 

After Logan's division htid taken possession of 
Vicksburg, Grant rode into the place, accompanied 
by his staff and a small escort. He went first to Gen- 
eral Pemberton's headquarters to return the visit of 



304 boys' life of general grant. 

that officer, and was received with scant courtes}^ 
Pemberton and his staff Avere sitting on the veranda 
of the Rebel headquarters, and not one of them rose 
to greet their visitors, or asked them to be seated. 
General Grant was thirsty, and asked for a drink of 
water; General Pemberton merely motioned with his 
hand in the direction of the rear of the building, where 
there was a well. Grant followed the direction, and 
found the Avell surrounded by negroes, who were 
assuaging their thirst with the water. One of them 
went into the house and brought out a glass, which he 
filled and offered to Grant. The latter thanked him, 
and accej)ted the proffered drink. 

Grant's officers were very indigant at this uncivil 
treatment of their chief, and did not hesitate to say 
so. Grant laughed and said, — 

"I guess I can stand it if Pemberton can. These 
fellows have jio occasion to feel particularly gracious 
towards us." 

Returning from the well. Grant remained standing 
for a moment, and then with some irony in his tone 
thanked General Pemberton for his hospitality, and 
bade him good-day. 

All of Grant's division commanders thought the 
terms very lenient ; and the opinion was prevalent that 
the Rebel troops should have been taken North as pris- 
oners of war instead of being paroled, but they after- 



grant's "YANKEE TRICK." 305 

wards admitted that their leader acted far more 
shrewdly than they thought. If the men were held 
as prisoners of war, and there were thirty-one thousand 
of them, it would have cost a great deal of money to 
transport them up the Mississippi River, and then by 
railway to the regular point of exchange on the James 
River near Richmond, meantime guarding them as 
prisoners until they could be regularly exchanged. 
Grant's idea was that most of them were tired of 
fighting, and would go straight to their homes as soon 
as they were outside our lines. 

The result proved the correctness of his reason- 
ing. Some of the men refused to be paroled, and 
were sent North as prisoners of war. Others gave 
their paroles, but remained within the Union lines, 
refusing to march' out Avith their comrades. Pember- 
ton begged hard for a suiBcient number of guns to 
arm a guard to keep the discontented ones from 
straggling, but this Grant refused. As soon as the 
Rebel column was outside our lines, the men began to 
straggle in every direction ; and by the time Pember- 
ton was fairly on Confederate soil, not more than ten 
thousand men remained of the thirty-one thousand 
that had been surrendered. Pemberton declared that 
Grant's performance was a Yankee trick, and when all 
the facts are considered it looks very much that way. 
The Mississippi Avas now open from Cairo to the 



306 boys' life of general grant. 

Gulf of Mexico with the single exception of Port 
Hudson, which was then besieged by General Banks. 
Grant immediately wrote to Banks, offering him all 
the men he wanted for the capture of the stronghold. 
Banks caused a copy of this letter, in which was 
the announcement of the surrender of Vicksburg, to 
fall into the hands of General Gardner, who then com- 
manded at Port Hudson. Gardner immediately wrote 
to Banks, saying that if Vicksburg had really surren- 
dered it would be useless for him to hold out any 
longer. Banks replied on his word of honor that 
Vicksburg had really fallen, whereupon Gardner sur- 
rendered unconditionally on the 9th of July. Thus 
was the Mississippi River open to Union navigation 
throughout its whole course. '' The Father of Waters 
flowed unvexed to the sea." 

News of the surrender of Vicksburg caused great 
rejoicing throughout the entire North, and especially 
so as it came almost simultaneously with the victory 
of Gettysburg, where the Rebellion reached its high- 
water mark, and the tide was turned back never to rise 
again. The capture of Vicksburg and the defeat at 
Gettysburg were considered by many people as prac- 
tically the end of the war, but it was not so with 
the great military leaders on either side. Tlie South 
had yet many men in the field; she had able soldiers; 
and whatever views may bo entertained of the right or 



CAPTURE OF PORT HUDSON. 307 

wrong of their cause, they believed in it, and fought 
for it as gallantly as did those who fought on the 
other side to maintain the Union. Grant realized 
that there was still a great deal of fighting to be 
done before the war would come to an end; and in 
the same dispatch in which he announced officially the 
fall of Vicksburg, he asked for orders as to what he 
should do next. 

After the fall of Port Hudson, General Banks, with 
the greater part of his army, returned to New Or- 
leans ; and shortly after he did so, General Grant went 
down the river to pay him a visit. Before starting, 
he asked permission to capture Mobile, which was not 
strongly defended; but the Government had other 
movements in contemplation, and took away a consid- 
erable portion of Grant's army to reinforce General 
Banks. Great Britain and France were affordino- aid 
and comfort to the Rebellion by their conduct in 
Mexico, in whose national aifairs they had intervened. 
It had been determined to send a strong force to the 
Rio Grande, and occupy the left bank of that river 
opposite Matamoras. Grant's forces were further 
weakened to reinforce Rosecrans in Tennessee. 

A day or two after Grant's arrival in New Orleans, 
General Banks held a review of his troops in honor 
of his guest. Knowing that Grant was a fine eques- 
trian, Banks had supplied a very high-spirited horse 



308 boys' life of general grant. 

for Grant's use. The animal was restive, and it was with 
difficulty Grant could control him during the review. 
On their return to the city the horse became un- 
manageable, and taking friglit at a locomotive, ran 
against a carriage, and fell with his whole weight on 
Grant's leg and hip. He was picked up nearly insen- 
sible, and carried on a stretcher to the hotel where 
he was stopping. He was confined to his bed about 
twenty daj^s, taking his confinement philosophically, 
and amusing himself with one of the funniest Ameri- 
can books ever published, '' Phenixiana." He remarked 
one day to a friend that he was illustrating the truth 
of a Chinese proverb which is thus rendered in pidgin- 
English : — 

" What man swim best, that man most catcheee drown ; 
Wlio lidee best make mostee tumble down." 

As soon as he could get about on crutches. Grant 
returned to Vicksburg, where he was joined by his 
family. There was very little activity in military 
movements in his department at that time, and he 
waited with some impatience for orders to do something. 

On the 10th of October, Grant received the following 
dispatch from General Halleck : — 

''It is the wish of the Secretary of War that, as soon as 
General Grant is able to take the field, he will go to Cairo 
and report by telegraph." 



GRANT MEETS STANTUN. 309 

The dispatch was received about noon, and before 
sunset Grant was ascending the river in the direction 
of Cairo. On reaching that place he found the follow- 
ing order waiting for him : — 

"Proceed by way of Indianapolis to the Gait House, 
Louisville, Ky., where you will meet an officer of the 
War Department with your orders and instructions. You 
will take with you your staff for immediate operations 
in the field." 

He proceeded oy the first train ; and on reaching In- 
dianapolis he met Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary 
of War, who joined him on the train and accompanied 
him to Louisville. It was the first time that these men 
had ever met. They had a long and earnest confer- 
ence, and the result of it was the consolidation of three 
military departments into one. These were the depart- 
ments of the Oliio, commanded by General Burnside, 
of the Tennessee under Grant, and of the Cumberland 
under Rosecrans. These departments were made into 
one, which was called the Grand Military Division of 
the Mississippi ; and the command of this extensive 
territory was given to General Grant, with headquar- 
ters to be in the field, wherever he chose to make 
them. Grant was given the choice of continuing Rose- 
crans in his command, or of replacing him by General 
Thomas. Grant had been dissatisfied with Rosecrans 



810 boys' life of general grant. 

for various reasons, and he at once decided to make a 
change of commanders. 

Rosecrans was then holding Chattanooga under great 
difficulties. General Bragg had cut off all communica- 
tion with the Union base of supplies, except a very 
difficult road across the mountains. Tlie army was 
suffering greatly from lack of provisions, and the horses 
and mules were starving for want of forage. It had 
been feared that Rosecrans would abandon Chattanooga 
and fall back, and certainly he would not have been 
without justification had he done so. After Grant 
had telegraphed the order superseding Rosecrans by 
Thomas, he sent another dispatch in tliese words : — 

" Hold Chattanooga at all hazards. I will be there as 
soon as possible." 

Thomas immediately replied, — 

" We will hold the town until we starve ! " 

Grant was still on crutches, and every unusual move- 
ment or exertion was painful to him ; nevertheless, he 
started at once for his new field of action. From Nash- 
ville, which he reached at midnight on the 20th of 
October, he sent dispatches to Thomas, Burnside, and 
Admiral Porter, ordering them to prepare for move- 
ments which he had already planned in his mind. The 
next day he continued his journey, and at Stevenson 



ROAD TO CHATTANOOGA. 311 

met General Rosecrans, whom he had just removed 
from command. Rosecrans was too much the gentle- 
man and soldier to manifest any feelings of chagrin, 
however much he may have possessed them. He' 
greeted the new commander in the old familiar way, 
with the words, — 

" How are you, Sam ? " 

From Bridgeport to Chattanooga, a distance of sixty 
miles, the railway was obstructed and also the river; 
and it was necessary for Grant and his party to travel 
by wagon or horseback. Grant refused an ambulance, 
but mounted his favorite horse ; he had to be lifted 
into and out of the saddle, and at difficult places he 
was carried in the arms of soldiers. This ride of sixty 
miles was completed in a single day. That he persisted 
in going through in spite of his weakened and crippled 
condition is an instance of the bulldog determination 
which characterized General Grant from infancy to the 
end of his life. 

The road over the mountains was strewn with broken 
wagons, and almost lined from end to end with car- 
casses of dead mules, that were said to number fully 
ten thousand. The road was a very poor and rough 
one at best, and the thousands of wagons that had 
passed over it since it became tlie only line of com- 
munication had rendered it worse than ever. Towards 
the end of the day, when the party was within a few 



312 boys' life of general grant. 

miles of Chattanooga, General Grant's horse stumbled 
and fell ; but it was a less severe fall than the one at 
New Orleans, and did no permanent harm. 

Grant and his staff took their first meals with 
General Thomas, who received them cordially, though 
some of his aids felt a little sore because a superior 
had been placed over their commander. Provisions 
were scarce; and for several days the party lived on 
coffee, hard biscuits, and dried vegetables, with a few 
meals of salt meat. The army was actually in a state 
of starvation. Fresh beef was very scarce, and soldiers 
considered themselves lucky when they could secure 
an ear of dried corn. So great was the scarcity of food 
that the soldiers hung around the place where the 
mules were kept, and sifted and washed the earth to 
obtain the corn which the animals had scattered on the 
ground in the daj's when corn was plenty. 

Chattanooga of itself is a place of no great impor- 
tance, but at that time it was of immense consequence 
when regarded from a strategic point of view. It is 
the junction of several railways, and is situated close 
to the spot where Tennessee joins Georgia and Ala- 
bama. About two miles east of the town is Mission 
Ridge, which is well described by its name. It is a 
ridge four liundred feet high, and the site of schools 
and churches established a long time ago among the 
Cherokee Indians. 



MISSION RIDGE AND LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 313 

Lookout Mountain, about two thousand feet above 
sea level and fourteen hundred above the Tennessee 
River, is about three miles west of Chattanooga. From 
it one can look into no fewer than six States, — Ten- 
nessee, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, and 
North Carolina. Thirty miles of the Tennessee River 
can also be seen, and for quite a distance the stream 
flows directly at the mountain's base. 

The Union army had strongly fortified itself in 
Chattanooga. The place was almost completely in- 
vested by Bragg's army, Avliose lines extended from 
the river above the town to the river below it. It 
had batteries on Mission Ridge and Lookout Moun- 
tain, and they were dropping shells into the town at 
irregular intervals during both the day and night. The 
Northern army was on quarter-rations, and there were 
three thousand sick and wounded in the hospitals. 
The common necessaries of life were scarce ; and when 
the wagon-trains went to Bridgeport they frequently 
returned empty, as the heavy guards required for their 
protection had eaten up all their supplies, while the 
mules had destroyed all the forage. The troops were 
in need of ammunition, and their clothes were ragged ; 
but they kept up their spirits in the confident belief 
that they would be relieved some day or other. 

This was the state of affairs when Grant arrived. 
Rosecrans had made a plan to break the blockade by 



314 boys' life of general grant. 

driving Bragg out of Lookout Valley on the west 
side of the mountain. He was about to execute it 
when he was superseded by Thomas, who immediately 
issued orders to carry it out; and these orders Grant 
confirmed immediately on his arrival. 

Hooker's army corps was at Bridgeport, guarding 
the river, and holding itself in readiness for orders 
to move. A little after midnight on the morning of 
the 26tli of October, Geary's division of Hooker's army 
crossed over silently to the south side of the river, and 
then pushed through the mountains toward Lookout 
Valley. At the same time, pontoon-boats, each con- 
taining thirty men of General Smith's command, started 
from Chattanooga, and floated six miles down the river, 
quite unobserved by the Rebel sentinels. They landed 
on the south bank at the mouth of Lookout Valley, 
and managed to capture the enemy's pickets before 
the latter could make any outcry or give any signal 
of trouble. Before morning they had intrenched them- 
selves and brought up artillery, and when the day 
broke they were in a strong position. With the pon- 
toons that floated them down, they built a bridge 
across the river, by which Grant could send rein- 
forcements to them in case of battle quicker than 
Bragg could reinforce the Confederate troops from 
Mission Ridge. 

The Rebels began to strengthen their positions 



CHARGE OF THE MULE BRIGADE. 315 

when they saw that the Union forces were on the 
ofPensive. The next evening the camp-fires of Geary's 
division were visible from the top of Lookout Moun- 
tain. General Longstreet, wlio held the mountain, 
immediately perceived that, unless the movement was 
stopped, it would raise the siege of Chattanooga; and 
he sent troops to drive out the Union forces at all 
hazards. The attack was made about midnight, when 
it was so dark that the Union forces could hardly 
distinguish one another from tlie Rebels. The battle 
lasted for more than three hours; the losses were 
not very large on either side, as a battle in the dark- 
ness may waste an immense amount of ammunition 
and do very little harm. 

An amusing incident ended the battle, and brought 
victory to the Union arms. About two hundred 
mules broke loose from their fastenings, and stam- 
peded in the direction of the enemy. The thunder 
of so many hoofs coming towards them caused the 
Rebels to imagine that a cavalry charge was being 
made: they fled in terror from the scene of action, 
and did not learn until the next day that they had 
been thrown into a panic by a wild stampede of 
innocent but alarmed mules. 

One of the Union officers the next day made a 
record of the occurrence in a parody on Tennyson's 
"Charge of the Light Brigade." He called it ''The 



81G boys' life of geneeal grant. 

Charge of the Mule Brigade," and the following is 
an extract from it ; — 

"Mules to the right of them, 
Mules to the left of them, 
Mules in front of them, 

Pawed, brayed, and thundered. 
Breaking their own confines, 
Breaking through Longstreet's lines. 
Into the Georgia troops, 

Stormed the two hundred. 
Wild all their eyes did glare. 
Whisked all their tails in air, 
Scattering the " Chivalry " there; 

All the world wondered !" 

Longstreet's force was larger than the Union one. 
Its movements were directed by signals given by 
torches from the top of the mountain, in full view 
of the Union commanders. Our officers had obtained 
the Rebel signal-code a few days beforehand, and 
were thus able to read all of Longstreet's orders. 
By this bit of good fortune the Union commanders 
w^ere able to intercept and repulse every attack. Be- 
fore morning Longstreet's men retreated, and the 
Union forces were in possession of the river all the 
way from Bridgeport to Cliattanooga. 

This was the end of starvation in Chattanooga. 
Supplies were sent up by steamer and by the river 
route, and the siege was brought to an end. In his 



GRANT PRAISES THOMAS. 317 

report of the affair General Grant gave all the credit 
of the movement to his subordinate, in the following 
words : — 

" General Thomas's plan for securing the river and 
south-side road to Bridgeport has proven eminently 
successful. The question of supplies may now be 
regarded as settled."" 



318 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Bragg's mistake. — Grant meets a party of rebel soldiers. — Bragg's 
notice to noncombatants. — Attack upon Mission Ridge. — Capture of 
Lookout Mountain. — The Battle above the clouds. — Great battle of 
Chattanooga. — How the Ridge was taken. — Bragg's retreat. — Effect 
of the victory in the North. — Grant named for the presidency. —His 
ambition. — " The sidewalk. " — Made a lieutenant-general. — 
Ordered to Washington. 

Shortly after this occurrence General Bragg com- 
mitted a grave military mistake. He detached Long- 
street's corps, together with Buckner's division, to 
make an expedition to destroy General Burnside, who 
was holding East Tennessee, with headquarters at 
Knoxville. He had twenty-five thousand soldiers 
in his command ; and General Bragg thought it a good 
scheme to destroy that army, and regain control of 
that part of the State. At the same time that Bragg 
detached Longstreet, Grant received reinforcements 
from the Army of the Tennessee, and immediately pre- 
pared to give battle. He instructed Thomas to attack 
Mission Ridge in the rear, so as to call Longstreet 
back; and at the same time he dispersed his troops 
in such a way as to make an attack upon Bragg's 
entire line. 



A BEBEL SCOUTING-PARTY. 319 

The opposing lines were so near each other that 
the soldiers frequently talked familiarly, and made 
exchanges of the same sort as they had done at Vicks- 
burg. One morning as Grant was riding near Chat- 
tanooga Creek, a small stream only a few yards wide, 
a party of soldiers in blue came down to the opposite 
bank to water their horses. From their uniforms 
Grant supposed they were his own men, and asked, — 

'' What corps do you belong to ? " 

" Longstreet's, of course." 

"What are you doing in those coats, then?" 

" Oh, all our corps wear blue." 

Just then it occurred to Grant that Longstreet's 
corps was dressed in blue, but he had forgotten it 
at the moment. The Rebels knew he was a Union 
officer, but were quite unaware that he was the 
commander-in-chief. There was an understanding 
between the pickets that they would not fire upon 
each other as a regular pastime, but only when making 
a hostile movement; and, consequently, these men 
refrained from using their rifles on that occasion. 
Had they known whom they confronted, it is pretty 
certain that they would have made an exception in 
his case. 

Heavy rains came on, and the attack was delayed. 
Grant was impatient at the delay, but he could do 
nothing. One day a dispatch came from Bragg, 
saying :-^ 



320 boys' life of ge^^ekal grant. 

"As there may be noncombatants in Chattanooga, I 
deem it proper to notify you that prudence would dic- 
tate their early withdrawal." 

Of course this was an intimation of an attack 
upon the Union forces ; but if a pun may be allowed, 
it was merely a case of brag, as there was no likeli- 
hood that the Confederate commander would make 
an attack at that time, when he had refrained from 
doing so before provisions and reinforcements had 
arrived; and furthermore, he found very soon that 
the withdrawal from the neighborhood was on his 
own part rather than on that of the noncombatants 
in the town. 

Grant endeavored to give the impression to Bragg 
that the main attack would be on Lookout Moun- 
tain. He did this by kindling fictitious camp-fires 
away to the west of the Union line, making a dis- 
play of troops, and then advancing up the western 
slope of the mountain. All the troops were grad- 
ually brought into position ; and on the 23d of No- 
vember everything was ready. 

The battle began by the movement of Granger's 
corps of Thomas's army, which was pushed forward 
towards Mission Ridge in such perfect order that the 
Rebel pickets thought it was a review, and stood 
leaning upon their rifles in admiration. As the line 
of blue came up to them, and marched directly 



ATTACK ON MISSION RIDGE. 321 

towards their position, they realized their mistake, 
and, after the customary exchange of shots, fell bacl^ 
to their first rifle-pits. 

Then the fighting began in earnest; and before 
night the Union forces had advanced two-thirds of 
the way to the ridge, driving the enemy back 
slowly. The men bivouacked where the fighting 
ceased. During the night, a strong division on the 
left crossed the river on pontoons, and built a bridge 
on which the entire Fifteenth Corps crossed over; 
and almost before the Rebels knew they had crossed, 
the troops were securely posted at the east of the 
ridge. The whole extent of the Union lines, from 
the extreme right to the extreme left, was six miles, 
the army facing to the southward. Two days be- 
fore, when Bragg saw Hooker's division moving into 
position, he said, — 

" They're going to have a grand Potomac review." 

It was a revicAv, but of a kind different from what 
he had expected to see. 

One side of Lookout Mountain has an almost per- 
pendicular front, similar to the palisades of the 
Hudson, which most New Yorkers have seen; while 
the other side rises in a gentle slope. At the bot- 
tom of the palisade, there is a succession of wide 
hills which slope down to the river. Hooker moved 
his army to the Rebel front, on the sloping side of 



822 boys' life of general grant. 

the mountain, as if to make an attack there. With 
large columns of troops maneuvering over the 
ground, he opened fire with artillery, as though he 
meant business. The Rebels laughed at his folly in 
making his attack there; and most of the Union of- 
ficers and soldiers who were not in the secret were 
inclined to laugh too. 

But while Hooker was making this demonstration 
in front, five brigades of his troops were making 
their way around to the rear. They ascended the 
mountain as far as the palisades, and then swept 
down through the woods in a wedge-shaped column 
that took the Rebels by surprise, capturing a great 
number of tliem and putting the rest to flight. 

The success of this movement showed General 
Bragg that it was impossible to hold Lookout Moun- 
tain, and so he ordered a retreat. In order to cover 
the retreat, he attacked Hooker in the evening, and 
kept up a skirmish for several hours. The mountain 
was enveloped in fog, to which was added the smoke 
of the artillery and small arms, so that the battle 
was rendered invisible to those farther down the val- 
ley. They could not see the combatants at all ; and 
except when the wind lifted the fog, all that was 
perceptible was the flashes of fire from the guns. 

This was the origin of the somewhat, though not 
altogether, imaginative story of the '' Battle Above 
the Clouds." 



HOOKER AT LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 323 

When the news reached Grant that Hooker had 
captured Lookout Mountain, and that his losses were 
not heavy, Grant remarked that Bragg must have 
surmised his plan of battle, and withdrawn most of 
his troops to strengthen his right. The next morn- 
ing, Nov. 25, showed that Bragg's forces were all 
drawn in upon Mission Ridge. Some of Hooker's 
men climbed up to the top of Lookout Mountain, 
and placed a flag there, the mountain being quite 
deserted, as Grant believed it would be. Then 
Hooker moved down the east side of Lookout, 
having been ordered to reach Rossville Gap in 
Mission Ridge, four miles in the rear of Bragg's 
position. The rest of the army was to wait until 
it could get into place when ordered. 

The field of battle was visible from the house- 
tops of Chattanooga, and the positions of the greater 
part of the Union army. Grant was on the summit 
of a little hill called Orchard Knoll, which com- 
manded a magnificent view of the scene, the whole 
country being spread out before him like a map. 
Bragg's headquarters on Mission Ridge were dis- 
tinctly visible; and the two hostile commanders 
faced each other, but not within rifle-shot. 

The fighting was severe at the north end of the 
ridge, and the Union forces did not make much 
progress. No word was heard from Hooker away on 



824 boys' life of general grant. 

the right, as he was delayed to build bridges over 
Chattanooga Creek, where they had been destroyed 
by the enemy. Bragg was so severely pressed at 
the north end of the ridge that he weakened his 
center to strengthen that part of his position. Grant 
immediately made an assault upon the ridge, and at 
the same time the guns of Hooker were heard away 
on the right. The order was given to advance, and 
very soon the entire Union line was in motion. So 
well formed were the columns, that the Rebels after- 
wards said they thought it was nothing but a review. 

The columns poured in through the timber, pressed 
back the Rebel skirmishers, and with a loud cheer 
and a vigorous rush drove them back to their rifle- 
pits at the foot of the ridge, and hoisted their flags 
upon the trenches. 

In a very short time our troops had full possession 
of the first line of trenches, but they did not stay 
long; halting briefly to take breath, they pushed on 
to the next line, under a heavy fire from their antag- 
onists. Many a man fell, but his fall did not check 
the advance. On and on the blue line went, on and 
up the slope of Mission Ridge, the flags fluttering 
at the very front of the line and not infrequently 
going down. Hardly does a flag fall before it rises 
again. The hands that held it are stilled in death, 
but other hands have seized it and wave it aloft 



VICTORY FOR THE UNION ARMY. 325 

once more. The flag of one regiment goes down 
three times, and three dead color-sergeants mark the 
spots where it fell; but it is not allowed to stop, 
and in less than an hour from the time it left the 
foot of the ridge it is waving at the top. 

The Rebels resist bravely the onslaught of the 
Northern troops. All along their front they pour 
a deadly fire of musketry; and they light the fuses 
of shells, and roll them down the slope to explode 
among the advancing foe. Huge rocks are rolled 
down that they may crush the Northern soldiers; 
and at the crest of the ridge, where the enemy is 
so hard pressed that the men have no time to load 
and reload, they club their muskets and use them 
in this way as weapons of defense. Just as the 
sun touches the horizon, bathing the long ridge w4th 
its yellow light, the whole crest is surmounted by 
the Northern troops ; their flags are waving in 
triumph, and a loud cheer goes up from the entire 
length of the National army. The Rebels are in 
full retreat, and the battle is virtuall}^ ended. 

But the capture of the ridge did not by any 
means end the conflict. General Sheridan, without 
waiting for orders, pushed forward and continued the 
pursuit until midnight, capturing great numbers of 
prisoners. General Sheridan won a reputation at this 
battle which led to his promotion, and gave him an 



326 boys' life of general grant. 

opportunity to demonstrate that he was the "greatest 
cavalry general of the present century. 

Bragg withdrew his forces, and established head- 
quarters at Chickamauga Station. In his retreat he 
abandoned much of his artillery, and destroyed great 
quantities of provisions, together with wagons, pon- 
toons, and caissons. In his ofificial report to the Con- 
federate Government he expressed liis surprise that his 
lines had given away, as the strength of his position 
was such that he had no doubt that he would be able 
to hold it. He said that a panic seemed to have 
seized upon officers and men, such as he had never 
before witnessed. 

The strength of Bragg's army at the battle of Mis- 
sion Ridge was about forty-five thousand, while the 
Union forces numbered not far from sixty thousand; 
but the Rebels had an immense advantage in their 
position; and, looking at the matter in this lapse of 
time, it seems a wonder that the Confederate general 
was not able to repel the Union attack. The old 
proverb, " Nothing succeeds like success," is fully ap- 
plicable to the victory at Mission Ridge. Grant was 
victorious, and therefore nobody criticised ; if he had 
failed, he would have been subject to the severest 
criticism for his folly in ordering a charge upon a 
stronghold so admirably situated for defense. 

His plan of battle was elaborate and complete. 



A NATIONAL THANKSGIVING. 32T 

Every movement was carried out just as he had 
planned and ordered ; and, furthermore, it would almost 
seem that he exercised hypnotic power over his oppo- 
nent, as General Bragg in every instance did exactly 
as Grant wished and expected him to do. The Union 
general was admirably supported by his soldiers, and 
the result shows that his confidence in them was not 
misplaced. They had the courage and ability to exe- 
cute what their great commander planned for them 
to do. 

When President Lincoln learned the result of 
Grant's campaign at Chattanooga, he recommended a 
national thanksgiving, and telegraphed personally to 
General Grant his profoundest gratitude for the skill, 
courage, and perseverance with which he and his men 
had triumphed over the great difficulties before them. 
Even the cold-blooded Halleck said that the battle of 
Chattanooga was the most remarkable battle of history. 
There was the wildest rejoicing throughout, the North, 
second only to that which followed the victories of 
Gettysburg and Vicksburg. Every Northern heart 
beat with rene^yed vigor at the realization that another 
great step had been accomplished toward the suppres- 
sion of the Great Rebellion. 

Bragg's army retreated into Georgia, following the 
line of railway in the direction of Atlanta. A part of 
Grant's army was ordered to Knoxville to strengthen 



328 boys' life of general grant. 

Burnside, and the remainder remained in its position 
at Chattanooga while waiting for orders to move. 

Shortly after his triumph at Vicksburg, Grant's 
name was frequently mentioned by politicians as the 
next candidate of the Republican party for the Presi- 
dency, but to all suggestions of that sort Grant re- 
turned an absolute negative. He said he was in the 
field to fight, and was not in politics. Until the Re- 
bellion was ended, and the last Rebel had thrown down 
his musket, he would adhere to army life and think of 
nothing else. 

His triumph at Chattanooga renewed the subject of 
the Presidency, though the politicians received no en- 
couragement. To a group of them who visited him at 
his headquarters at Nashville, he said : — 

" There is only one office I ever aspired to in my 
life. I should like to be mayor of Galena, so that I 
could order a new sidewalk from my house to the 
railway depot." 

When he went to Galena, after the war, he was re- 
ceived by a grand outpouring of citizens. Several 
triumphal arches were erected along the streets 
through which he was to pass ; and on one of them 
was the announcement in huge letters, which he could 
easily read from the carriage in which he was 
riding, — 

" General, the sidewalk is built ! " 



GEANT NAMED FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 



329 



When it became known throughout the country 
that General Grant would not consider the question 
of the Presidency under any circumstances, the sub- 
ject was dropped ; but the people were determined that 
he should know their views concerning liim. The 
legislatures of several States gave him enthusiastic 
votes of thanks. Congress caused a gold medal to be 
struck ; and he received gifts without number from 
cities, corporations, and individuals. The gift which 
seemed to please him most was a cigar-case whittled 
out by one of his soldiers from a bullet-scarred tree on 
Lookout Mountain. 

One day he received a telegram that his son Fred 
was seriously ill in St. Louis; and he telegraphed to 
Washington for a leave of absence, which was imme- 
diately granted. He started at once for his son's 
bedside, but happily found him out of danger when 
he arrived there. He remained a few days in his old 
home, and while he was there the leading citizens and 
others tendered him a dinner at the principal hotel. 
Speeches were made in his honor, the band played 
" Hail to the Chief," and there were loud calls for a 
speech. Grant rose, and the audience became silent 
instantly. His speech was brief, as it consisted only 

of the words : — 

"Gentlemen, it will be impossible to do more than 

thank you." 



330 boys' life of general grant. 

After the dinner there was a serenade, and the street 
in front of the hotel was brilliantly illuminated. Grant 
went to the balcony ver}^ reluctantly. In response to 
loud and repeated calls from the crowd, he bowed his 
acknowledgments, and was about to retreat, when loud 
calls were made of " Speech I Speech ! " This went 
on for some minutes ; and finally the general took his 
cigar from his mouth, and said : — 

" Gentlemen, making speeches is not my business. 
I never did it in my life, and I never will ! I thank 
you, however, for your attendance here." 

General Grant returned from St. Louis to his head- 
quarters at Nashville ; and, soon after his arrival there, 
Congress passed a bill reviving the degree of Lieuten- 
ant-General, which was originally created for General 
Washington in 1798, and Avas discontinued at liis 
death. It was conferred by brevet on General Scott 
after the Mexican War, and Washington and Scott 
were the only ones who ever held the title. The 
President speedily conferred the title upon Grant, and 
he was summoned to Washington to report in person 
at the War Department. 

Accompanied by two officers of his staff, he started 
for Washington, reacliing that city late in the after- 
noon of March 8, 1864. He made a hasty toilet, and 
then entered the great dining-room at Willard's Hotel, 
and sat down to dinner. The news of his presence 



GRANT IN WASHINGTON. 331 

quickly spread among the people in the dining-room ; 
and suddenly one of the party, a member of Congress 
from Pennsylvania, rose to his feet, and said ; — 

''Ladies and gentlemen, the hero of Donelson, of 
Vicksburg, and of Chattanooga is among us ! I pro- 
pose the health of Lieutenant-General Grant ! " 

Cheers upon cheers were enthusiastically given. 
Handkerchiefs were waved in the air, and the men 
and women crowded around the general to tender 
their congratulations. He could not eat his dinner 
in comfort; and finally retired, blushing, from the 
hall, ordered a beefsteak and a pot of tea sent to his 
room, and finished his repast by himself. 

In the evening he went to the President's reception, 
where for the first time he and Mr. Lincoln met. As 
they shook hands, they looked at each other very 
closely, and had a brief conversation. It was neces- 
sarily very brief, owing to the crowd of visitors that 
was pouring in for introduction to the President. 

The next day Grant was formally presented to Mr. 
Lincoln, accompanied by Rawlins and Comstock of 
his staff, and his son Fred. Several officers of the 
President's cabinet were present ; and after Mr. Lincoln 
had greeted the general, and introduced him to the 
bystanders, he read the following address : — 

" General Grant, — The nation's appreciation of what 
you have done, and its reliance upon you for what remains 



832 boys' life of general grant. 

to be done, in the existing great struggle, are now pre- 
sented with this commission, constituting you lieutenant- 
general in the army of the United States. With this 
high honor devolves upon you also a corresponding respon- 
sibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, 
it will sustain you. I scarcely need to add that with what 
I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty per- 
sonal concurrence. '^ 

Grant had been informed of the character of the 
President's note, and had brought with him his own 
reply, which he had written in the hotel the evening 
before. It was as follows : — 

" Jfr. President, — I accept the commission with gratitude 
for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble 
armies that have fought on so many fields for our common 
country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint 
your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsi- 
bilities now devolving upon me ; and I know that if they 
are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to 
the favor of that Providence which leads both nations 
and men." 

The interview with the President lasted less than 
half an hour, as both were very busy, and time was 
precious. Immediately after leaving the President, 
Grant went to visit the Army of the Potomac, and was 
heartily welcomed by General Meade, its then com- 
mander, who was quite willing to be relieved from 



GEANT VISITS GENERAL MEADE. 333 

responsibility. Very quickly the corps and division 
commanders called to pay their respects. A few of 
them he had known before, but the greater part he 
had never seen until that time. 

It had been General Grant's intention, before going 
East, to bring with him two of his most trusted gen- 
erals from the Military Division of the Mississippi ; 
but he now found that such a transfer would excite 
ill feeling, as there was already a jealousy existing on 
the part of the East towards the West. The Western 
army had gained numerous victories, from Donelson to 
Chattanooga, while the Army of the Potomac was 
almost as far away from Richmond as at the begin- 
ning of the war. Grant found that General Meade 
had a great deal of popularity with the Army of the 
Potomac ; and so he decided to retain him in command, 
and take for himself the general charge of the 
whole. 

This was undoubtedly a very politic step for Grant 
to take in the army where so many jealousies abounded. 
In speaking of the subject one day, he said that if 
he had taken command of the Army of the Potomac 
two years before he would have undoubtedly failed ; 
but now he felt entire confidence in himself, having 
served through all the ranks of colonel, brigadier-gen- 
eral, and major-general, and had so much experience 
in the field. He thought that McClellan's misfortune 



334 boys' life of general grant. 

was that he was put in command of that great army 
with practically no experience whatever. 

Before assuming active command of the Army of 
the Potomac, it was necessary for General Grant to 
go West, and close up the affairs of his military de- 
partment there. On the 11th of March he had an 
interview with the President and the secretary of 
war, and just as he was about to leave he received 
an invitation from Mrs. Lincoln for a military din- 
ner at the White House. The letter reached him 
when he was making a call upon the President, and 
Mrs. Lincoln said in her note of invitation that twelve 
other prominent generals would be there to meet him. 
The dinner was to be given in General Grant's honor ; 
but he begged to be excused, as he must return imme- 
diately to Nashville. 

President Lincoln replied that he could not ex- 
cuse him, as it would be Hamlet with the prince left 
out. 

Grant answered that he fully appreciated the honor 
which Mrs. Lincoln would show him, but added that 
time was precious, and the affairs of the country de- 
manded his first attention; then with some stammer- 
ing and hesitation he concluded by saying : — 

"Really, Mr. Lincoln, I've had enough of this 
show business." 

The dinner came off, but Grant was not there. 



*' ON TO lee's army ! " 335 

When the party sat down at the table he was many 
miles away on his trip to Cincinnati. He reached 
that city one Sunday morning, spent a day with his 
father and mother, and then continued his journey to 
Nashville, his headquarters. After finishing his af- 
fairs at Nashville, he returned again to Washington, 
spending a part of another day at his father's house. 
Several visitors called to see him ; and one of them 
said, — 

" I suppose it's ' On to Richmond ' now ? " 
" No," replied Grant ; " it's ' On to Lee's army ! ' " 
Another then asked, — 
" How do you propose to do it, General ? " 
Grant said nothing, but gave an extra puff to his 
cigar, and changed the subject to something else. 



336 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

On duty at Washington. — His staff. — General plan of campaign.— 
State of affairs at the time. — Army of the Potomac. — Its condition 
and morals. —Lee's position. — Preparing for the offensive. — Begin- 
ning the movement. — Crossing the Rapidan. — Encountering Lee's 
army. — Hard fighting in The Wilderness. — Six days of battles. —A 
wily foe. — " Shall fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." 

Grant reached Washington on the 23d of March, 
1864, and assumed active direction of the army. He 
was accompanied by his staff-officers Rawlins, Bowers, 
Duff, Rowley, Leet, Parker, Badeau, Hudson, and 
Dunn. A day or two after his arrival he was joined 
by his newly appointed aids. Porter, Babcock, and 
Dent. 

It had long been his theory, and he was not alone 
in his belief, that the movements against the enemy 
should be simultaneous along the entire line, from 
the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and be- 
yond it. The reader will remember that this plan 
had already been acted upon two years earlier, when 
simultaneous movements were made in Missouri, Ten- 
nessee, at the mouth of the Mississippi, and at sev- 
eral points in the East. Grant's scheme was simply 
an elaboration of the old one, and included perfect 



GRANT AND McCLELLAN. 837 

co-operation of time and purpose between our armies, 
so that the enemy, assailed everywhere, could not 
weaken one point to strengthen another. Now that 
he was in chief command, he made his plans with 
great care, and issued orders accordingly. 

The day after his arrival he began the re-organ- 
ization of the army for the campaign of the summer 
of 1864. He had able officers under him; and after 
his first inspection of the Army of the Potomac he 
said he felt entirely confident that it would secure 
the results desired of it. 

There was still a good deal of soreness remain- 
ing in the army over the removal of McClellan. 
The soldiers had idolized him, and so did most of 
the officers; and there was a deep feeling among 
them in favor of his return. There was also a feel- 
ing of jealousy that a Western commander had been 
appointed over Eastern troops. General Grant en- 
deavored in a very judicious way to quiet all this 
unpleasant rancor; and whenever he had occasion to 
mention General McClellan, he did so in the kindest 
manner, and always with an expression of admi- 
ration for the man. He said that the Confederates 
had recognized the importance of defending their cap- 
ital at all hazards, and had surrounded it with their 
best troops, under their best generals. He said one 
day,— 



338 boys' life of general grant. 

"The Army of the Potomac is a very fine one, 
and has shown the highest courage ; still, I think 
it has never fought its battles through." 

Shortly after assuming command, General Grant 
sent for his family to come to Washington. Soon 
after their arrival a party of ladies asked Mrs. Grant 
her opinion of her husband's new responsibilities. 

She replied that he had succeeded thus far where- 
ever the Government had placed him, and she believed 
he would do the best he could. 

Then one asked if she believed he would capture 
Richmond. 

"Yes, I'm sure he will before he gets through," 
she replied. "Mr. Grant was always a very obstinate 
man." 

She almost always spoke of the general as "Mr. 
Grant," very rarely alluding to him by his official 
title. 

The necessity for the success of the Northern 
armies was very great. Repeated failures of the 
Army of the Potomac to accomplish anything had 
wearied the public, so that a sentiment for peace at 
any price was rapidly growing. A member of Con- 
gress from Ohio made a speech in the House of 
Representatives advocating the recognition of the 
Southern Confederacy. A motion was made for his 
expulsion ; but it did not receive the necessary two- 



PEACE SENTIMENT. 339 

thirds vote, and therefore he retained his place. Sev- 
eral other members of Congress openly defended him 
and his speech, and one of them announced himself 
in favor of peace by the recognition of the Con- 
federacy. It must not be understood that the war 
sentiment was in the minority, but only that the 
peace sentiment was rapidly growing more bold and 
outspoken. Five of the Western States — Ohio, Illi- 
nois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana — voluntarily made 
an enlistment of ninety thousand men for garrison duty 
at home, thus enabling all the veterans to go to the 
front. Other States followed their example, but not 
to so great an extent; and altogether they caused 
a material increase to be made to the fighting force. 

One day while Grant was calling on the Presi- 
dent, the latter asked what the prospects were. Grant 
began to tell his plans to the President ; but the latter 
motioned him to stop, and said, — 

"Don't tell me anything about your plans; I don't 
want to know what they are. Everybody will be 
asking me, and I want to be able to say truthfully 
that I don't know what they are. If you are sat- 
isfied with them, I am, and believe they will turn 
out all right. I only want to know what your opin- 
ion is of the prospects." 

Grant answered that he thought they were good. 
He said that his two chief objects were to keep the 



340 boys' life of general grant. 

troops active, and concentrate his supplies close to 
the front so that there would be no necessity of 
guarding long lines of communications. 

It took several weeks to get the army into con- 
dition to take the offensive, and to take it, as Grant 
had planned, simultaneously. The heaviest blow was 
that against Lee, who thus far had repelled every 
attack made upon him. 

The two armies had not been in conflict for three- 
quarters of a year. They were lying onl}- a few 
miles apart, — Lee at Orange Court House, and Grant 
at Culpeper Court House. Lee was perfectly fa- 
miliar with every inch of the ground he was defend- 
ing, as he had lived in that vicinity, and had defeated 
the Army of the Potomac in two campaigns. His 
army had great confidence in itself and in its leader. 
Moreover, the Confederate army had the habit of 
victory, while the Army of the Potomac had the 
habit of defeat. It had become a matter of course 
that when the Union army in Virginia marched out 
to meet the enemy, it would march back again in 
more or less disorder. Grant's army was greater than 
Lee's, but under the circumstances it can readily 
be seen that it would be less efficient until its 
habit of defeat was broken up. 

For some reasons Grant would have preferred ap- 
proaching Richmond by way of the James River 



POSITIONS OF THE TWO ARMIES. 341 

rather than by the direct route from Culpeper 
Court House. The land route would have been 
shorter, and facilities for obtaining supplies easier; 
but the disadvantage was that the James River route, 
if taken by the Army of the Potomac, would leave 
Washington uncovered to the enemy; and as Lee 
was fighting on interior lines and Grant on exterior 
ones, the former could make a dash upon Washing- 
ton, and capture it before Grant could reach it. 
Furthermore, even if Lee's army did not attack or 
threaten Washington, the movement of the army from 
Culpeper back to the Potomac, to embark for the 
James, would be in the nature of a retreat, and have 
the effect to dishearten the men. 

The distance from Culpeper Court House to Rich- 
mond is about seventy miles. The country along 
the route was heavily timbered, and cut up by many 
streams running at right angles to the army's line 
of movement. These streams, though not very wide, 
were nearly all too deep to be forded by an army, 
and consequently could be easily held by the enemy 
against a largely superior force. Furthermore, what- 
ever advance was made into this region would render 
more difficult the supplying of the Union army, and 
at the same time make it easier to supply the Rebel 
one. 

The movement began on the evening of May 3, 



342 boys' life of general grant. 

when Meade issued orders to send forward the pon- 
toon trains to lay bridges at Ely's Ford and Ger- 
mania Ford. Tents were struck soon after dark, and 
by midnight the army was in motion. So quietly 
did they move away, that the citizens of the town 
were not aware until they awoke in the morning 
that the army was gone. Grant and his staff spent 
the night at his headquarters in Culpeper, and break- 
fasted there. After breakfast they galloped away, and 
overtook the army at the Rapidan River, where the 
troops were crossing swiftly over the pontoon bridges 
already mentioned. Before night the entire army 
was south of the river, and camped on the blood- 
drenched field of Chancellors ville. Grant had ex- 
pected that the enemy would oppose his passage of 
the river, and was greatly pleased when the whole 
army, with its enormous supply-train of four thou- 
sand wagons, was safely over the stream. 

The three corps which formed the army of the Poto- 
mac were commanded by Generals Sedgwick, Hancock, 
and Warren ; and to these were added Burnside's Ninth 
Corps, which had been brought from Annapolis to take 
part in the movement. Sheridan, the only general 
whom Grant brought from the West, commanded all 
the cavalry. Grant's plan was to throw his army 
between Richmond and Lee's army ; and then, if he 
could crush Lee in a single battle, Richmond would 



THE WILDERNESS. 



343 



be open to him. He said in a later report that it 
was his intention to fight Lee between Culpeper and 
Richmond if he would stand. 

If Grant had any doubt that Lee would stand, it 
was speedily dispelled. He not only stood, but as 
soon as he heard of Grant's advance he pushed for- 
ward to meet him. He received notice early on the 
morning of May 4 (Wednesday) that the Union army 
was in motion, and immediately started his own army 
to strike Grant's column at a right angle to its line 
of march. 

The region south of the Rapidan is known as The 
Wilderness. It is a worn-out and deserted region, 
containing many old tobacco-fields, and covered to a 
great extent with low, scrubby trees, and with more or 
less underbrush. There is much more wooded than 
open ground in it. It is a bad place to maneuver 
an army in, and Grant did not wish to fight there if 
he could avoid it. But Lee gave him no option in this 
matter. 

By sunset on Wednesday, Lee had moved up very 
close to the position of the Union army. Early on 
the morning of May 6, Lee made his attack, coming 
first in contact with Warren's corps. Before eight 
o'clock the battle was well underway, and the fighting 
was vigorous nearly all the time until sunset. It was 
impossible to use artillery to advantage, and the greater 



344 boys' life of general grant. 

part of the fighting was done by infantry. The thick- 
ness of the forest made it necessary to move the troops 
by compass in many instances, and every advance was 
a step into an ambuscade. Sometimes the Rebels at- 
tacked, but in most cases the Union troops did so. 
Whoever made the advance was at a great disadvan- 
tage, as the enemy was concealed behind and among 
trees, and reserved his fire until at very close range. 
Many of the bullets w^ere warded off by the trees ; but 
many others found their billets, and the ground was 
thickly covered with dead and wounded. 

An hour or so past noon the entire army was en- 
gaged. A report came to General Grant, that Han- 
cock had been repulsed, and the whole left wing of the 
army had given way. Grant was in conversation with 
Meade at the time, and was whittling at the root of 
a tree under which he was seated. 

When he heard the report about Hancock, he gave 
a vigorous stab with his knife into the root and re- 
plied, — 

" I don't believe it. It can't be true. There's some 
mistake about it." 

Wishing to see for himself, he called for his horse, 
mounted, and rode away, accompanied by General 
Meade. He found that the report about General Han- 
cock was untrue, as he had said. Neither side was 
gaining much upon the oth-r, and the battle at the 



BEGINNING THE BATTLE. 345 

end of the day was practically a drawn one. Lee tele- 
graphed to" Richmond that his army had maintained 
its position, but had lost heavily. Grant did not send 
any dispatches, but gave orders that the battle should 
begin at half-past three the next morning. 

During the night he was called to receive a dispatch 
from General Meade, who said it would be too dark at 
the hour named for the soldiers to distinguish friend 
from foe, and suggested that the battle commence at 
six o'clock. 

Grant drowsily assented at first; but as soon as he 
was fully awake he countermanded the assent, and 

said, — 

"Let it begin at a quarter-past four o'clock and not 
a minute later. It is of great importance that we 
should be the first to open." 

There is an old saying to the effect that great 
minds think alike; and so it was in this case. Lee 
had exactly the same view of the importance of being 
the first to open the battle, and had given orders 
that the enemy should be attacked at daybreak. The 
result was that the Union troops began the attack 
on the center and left, while the Rebels fired the 
first gun on the right. 

The day was cloudless and very hot, as had been 
the preceding day. Both armies had thrown up in- 
trenchments, and were well prepared for resisting 



346 boys' life of general grant. 

attack. The Union army faced towards the west ; 
Hancock and Sedgwick holding respectively the left 
and right wings, while Warren held the center. The 
fighting was active all through the morning. At nine 
o'clock Hancock pushed the Rebels in front of him 
for nearly two miles; and at one time it looked as if 
Lee's line was completely broken, and victory had 
perched on the Union banners. 

If Hancock had pushed forward he would have 
cut the Rebel army in two, and the campaign might 
have ended on that day. But he was in a dangerous 
position, as his lines were considerably broken, and his 
supports were far in the rear. He halted to re-form his 
line. Lee, always watchful to embrace an opportunit}^, 
placed himself at the head of a division of Texas 
troops to make a charge, and drive back Hancock's 
men. 

The Texans refused to move with their great com- 
mander in such imminent danger. As soon as he had 
taken his proper place in the rear of the column, 
they made a charge, and were successful. Just as 
they made the charge, they were reinforced by Long- 
street's corps; and shortly after, Burnside arrived, 
and took a position between Warren and Hancock. 
Burnside's corps had been left behind as a rear-guard 
at Culpeper, with orders to advance as soon as the 
rest of the army had crossed the Rapidan. 



A REBEL ASSAULT. 347 

In the afternoon the Rebel forces in front of Han- 
cock were heavily strengthened, in the hope of crush- 
ing and turning our left wing. Just as the Rebel 
advance was to be made, Longstreet with his staff 
and escort came galloping down the road to give his 
personal direction to the movement. They were mis- 
taken for Union troops, and received a volley from 
their own men, which emptied several saddles, and 
wounded General Longstreet very severely. He was 
compelled to leave the field; and he was so severely 
disabled that it was nearly a twelvemonth before he 
recovered. 

Longstreet's injury resulted in considerable confu- 
sion, and delayed the Rebel advance until Hancock's 
corps had been sufficiently strengthened to meet it. 
It was a very narrow escape for Hancock, and also 
a narrow escape for the entire army. The crushing 
of the left wing would very likely have given Lee 
possession of the field. 

During the day General Grant ordered all the 
bridges over the Rapidan to be taken up with a sin- 
gle exception. One of his staff suggested that these 
bridges might be needed, to which Grant replied, — 

" One bridge will be enough to cross all the men 
we shall have left if we fall back." 

Another assault upon the Union line was made 
about four o'clock in the afternoon. The woods had 



348 boys' life of general grant. 

taken fire ; and the smoke and flames blinded our 
men so that they fell back, and their trenches were 
occupied by the Rebels. As soon as the smoke blew 
away, the Union troops rallied and drove the Rebels 
out of the trenches, capturing many prisoners, and 
sending them to the rear. 

The fio^htinor continued after dark. General Gor- 
(Ion attacked the right of the Union lines, where he 
created a panic, and captured two entire brigades. 
General Grant brought order out of disorder ; but 
hardly had he done so when there was another as- 
sault, accompanied by loud and long-continued yell- 
ing. For the moment Grant thought that the Union 
line had been broken; but an investigation showed 
that the yelling was only a ruse of General Gordon 
to create the impression that his line was very 
strong, while in reality it was weak. 

The battle of The Wilderness lasted two days, 
Thursday and Friday, May 5 and 6. On the morning 
of the 7th neither of the armies was in a condition 
to attack, and they lay in their trenches confronting 
each other. The surgeons were busy in caring for 
the wounded ; and many of those who escaped injury 
were occupied with the burial of the dead. Grant 
moved restlessly all along the line, keenly observant 
of everything, but speaking little. His losses had 
been heavy, and some of his subordinates expected 
him to order a retreat. 



"NOT A RETREATING MAN." 349 

Inside the Rebel army it was believed the Union 
troops were retiring, and there was a general con- 
fidence that within two days the Confederate troops 
would be in their old position at Orange Court 
House. General Gordon said to General Lee that 
he thought there was no doubt that General Grant 
was retreating. 

General Lee replied, "You are mistaken. I'm very 
sure you are. I knew Grant in Mexico, and can 
assure you that he is not a retreating man ! " 

About the same time President Lincoln said to a 
friend : — 

" The great thing about Grant is his cool j)er- 
sistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, and 
he has the grip of a bulldog. When he once gets 
his teeth in, nothing can shake him off ! " 

Afterwards, when all the particulars of the battle 
of The Wilderness were known, President Lincoln 
said that any previous commander of the Army of 
the Potomac would have retired across the Rapidan 
after such a battle. 

After dark on Saturday, May 7, there was a com- 
motion in the Union army. Tents were struck, folded, 
and thrown into the wagons, and the army was in 
motion. The query arose in every mind, "Where are 
we going now ? " 

The generals knew, but their orders were not con- 



350 boys' life of general grant. 

fided to any one else. Spottsylvania Court House was 
the objective point; and if Grant could seize that 
point he would be between Lee and Richmond, and 
thus compel Lee to fight to regain and protect his 
communications. But Lee was as quick as Grant 
to see the importance of Spottsylvania ; he started 
earlier and got there first, as Sheridan with his cav- 
alry found out, and notified Grant when the latter 
was still three miles away from the coveted point. 

Of course there was a battle which lasted through 
the greater part of Sunday. The enemy was pressed 
back, but it could not be driven out of the posi- 
tion which it had selected. Monday was similarly 
emplo3^ed, and was important for the death of one 
of the best officers in the Army of the Potomac, 
General Sedgwick. 

The circumstances of his death were peculiar. He 
was sitting on horseback close to one of his brigades, 
where occasional bullets came from the enemy. Some 
of the men were inclined to duck their heads as the 
bullets whistled past; and the general observing it, 
said, — 

" Nonsense, men ! don't dodge. They couldn't hit 
an elephant as far off as that." 

As he spoke the last word of the sentence, a bullet 
passed through his head, and lie fell dead instantly. 
His corpse wore the same smile that was evoked 



grant's report. 351 

by the semi-jocular remark with which his life 
ended. 

On Tuesday morning Meade's line was six miles 
long. There was hard fighting during intervals of 
the day, and many prisoners were captured. The 
enemy's line was unbroken ; and the positions of the 
opposing forces were practically unchanged, thougli 
whatever change took place was favorable to the 
Union side. To every question that was asked in 
regard to the possibility of getting to Richmond, 
Grant replied, — 

'' We are going there. There is no doubt about 
it!" 

And to emphasize his belief that he was going 
tlirough, 'Grant had with him siege-trains of heavy 
artillery, with the special purpose of besieging Rich- 
mond when he reached it. 

On the morning of Wednesday, May 11, Repre- 
sentative Washburne, who was with the army thus 
far, was about to leave for Washington. While wait- 
ing for his escort, he suggested to Grant that he had 
better send a note to Secretary Stanton to say how 
he was getting along. Grant stepped into his tent, 
and rapidly penned the following : — 

"We have now ended the sixth day of very, hard 
fighting. The result to this time is much in our favor. 



352 boys' life of general grant. 

Our losses have been heavy, as \vell as those of the 
enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. 
We have taken over five thousand prisoners m battle, 
while he has taken from us but few, except stragglers. 
/ propose to fifjht it out on this line, if it takes all 
suninierJ^ 

This was the first official news that the Govern- 
ment received since the army crossed the Rapidan. 
It was immediately given to the press, and published 
all over the country. It was a great relief every- 
where, and was I'eceived with immense enthusiasm, 
especially the closing sentence, which speedily be- 
came '' familiar in the mouth as household W'Ords." 



END OF THE WILDEIINESS BATTLES. 353 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

End of The "Wilderness battles. — A few days of rest. — Meade's congratu- 
latory order. — Hancock attacks, and is repulsed. — Another advance. 

— Sheridan's raid and its results. — Grant's army on the Painunkey. 

— Attack on Petersburg. — Headquarters at City Point. — Reinforce- 
-ments. — Grant and the negro sentinel. — Mr. Lincoln's experience. — 

Sheridan again. — Battles in the Shenandoah Valley. — Grant's cool- 
ness at an explosion. 

Wednesday and Thursday were days of hard fight- 
ing, the latter particularly so. The night between 
those two days was dark and stormy. Hancock took 
advantage of the weather, and massed his troops nearer 
the Rebel left. At daylight his men made a charge, 
taking the enemy by surprise, rushing into their breast- 
works, and capturing them at breakfast. They took 
over three thousand prisoners, including two generals. 

The next morning, Friday, May 13, it was found 
that the main body of the enemy had fallen back ; but 
the skirmishing continued all day, and once General 
Meade narrowly escaped capture. The Rebels came 
suddenly out of the forest, and nearly surrounded the 
house which he had taken for headquarters. An officer 
who was familiar with the ground hustled the general 
out by the back door, and he safely made his way to 



354 boys' life of general grant. 

Grant's headquarters. When he reached there, General 
Grant, who had witnessed the performance, said with 
a laugh, — 

" What's the fuss at that house ? " 

" Oh, nothing," replied Meade, " but they came very 
near capturing the commander of the Army of the 
Potomac." 

For some days both armies remained quiet. Grant 
was receiving reinforcements, and so was Lee ; but 
there were few which the latter could receive. Each 
side was caring for its wounded, and burying its dead, 
supplying itself with ammunition and provisions of 
various kinds, and getting in readiness for another 
struggle for the possession of Richmond. 

Meade, on May 13, issued a congratulatory order 
to his troops, from which the following is an ex- 
tract : — 

"For eight days and nights, without almost any inter- 
mission, through rain and sunshine, you have been fighting 
a desperate foe, in positions naturally strong, and rendered 
doubly so by intrenchments. . . . Now he has abandoned 
the last intrenched position, so tenaciously held, suffering 
in all a loss of eighteen guns, twenty-two colors, and eight 
thousand prisoners, including two general officers. . . . 
Let us return thanks to God for the mercy shown us, and 
earnestly ask for its continuance. . . . The enemy must 
be pursued, and, if possible, overcome. . . . We shall 
soon receive reinforcements, which lie cannot expect." 



ANOTHER ADVANCE. 355 

During these days of rest, Meade suggested that if 
Hancock's corps made an attack again on the right, 
it might brealv the Rebel line. Hancock made tlie 
attempt at daylight on the 18th of May, but was re- 
pulsed with a loss of twelve hundred men. There was 
no lack of bravery on either side ; the Rebels were in 
a strong position, and they defended it manfully and 
successfully. 

On the afternoon of the 19th, Swell's corps of Lee's 
army got around in the rear of the Union right. It 
made a vigorous assault, but was repulsed with a heavy 
loss. 

On the night of May 21, the National army pushed 
forward to the North Anna River, which they reached 
about forty hours later. General Lee expected Grant's 
movement, and had a strong force on the south bank 
of the stream. Grant succeeded in pushing his forces 
across the river, crossing on a bridge built by Warren's 
men from timber which they cut in a Rebel saw-mill. 
The Union forces captured a thousand prisoners, but 
the Rebels were too strongly posted to be driven out 
without severe loss. Consequently Grant's men retired 
to the north bank, and there was a lull in the fighting. 

Let us go back a little. On the 9th of May, General 
Grant ordered General Sheridan to make a raid in the 
rear of Lee's army, to cut off his communications, and 
"smash things" generally. There was never a better 



356 boys' life of general grant. 

man in the world for the smashing business than Phil 
Sheridan. He obeyed orders both to the spirit and 
to the letter. He captured supply trains and depots, 
using all the provisions and forage that he wanted, 
and destroying the rest. He released four hundred 
Union prisoners who were on their way to Richmond, 
tore up miles and miles of railway, burned trains and 
disabled locomotives, went close up to the Rebel de- 
fenses of Richmond, and would have entered the forti- 
fications themselves and taken possession if he had 
had any infantry to hold them. 

At Yellow Tavern, six miles from Richmond, Sheri- 
dan defeated a Rebel cavalry division under General J. 
E. B. Stuart, and mortally wounded the general himself. 
The death of Stuart was a great loss to General Lee, 
as he was considered the ablest cavalry leader in the 
Confederacy. From Richmond, Sheridan went down 
the valley of the James, and communicated with 
General Butler, who supplied him with everything he 
needed. After resting his men and horses, he started 
back again ; and after destroying more railways and 
capturing more supplies, he joined the Army of the 
Potomac. He was gone just sixteen days ; and his 
operations in that time struck terror to the enemy, as 
it was the first occasion on which the cavalr}^ of the 
Army of the Potomac had caused them any serious 
trouble. 



LEE S ARMY FALLS BACK. 357 

Oil the night of May 26, Grant withdrew from 
North Anna and advanced again, keeping on the 
flank of Lee's army, which was thus compelled to fall 
back. There was skirmishing between the two armies 
for the next three or four days, but no heavy fighting ; 
Lee's army falling back on most occasions when it 
was pressed. On the 31st of May headquarters were 
established at Cold Harbor, on the Pamunkey River, 
twelve miles from Richmond, and not far from the 
spot where the battle of Gaines's Mill was fought 
in 1862. 

Grant attacked Lee again to drive him south of the 
Chickahominy River; but Lee had firmly intrenched 
himself, and the attack was a failure. June 2 was 
a quiet day ; and on the 3d there was another attack 
along the entire line, in which the Union loss was 
heavy witiiout material advantage gained, while the 
Confederate losses were light. After this the army 
intrenched, and for some time there was comparatively 
little fighting. Grant established a new line of com- 
munications by way of the Pamunkey River, so that 
he had no further occasion to guard the overland 
line by way of Culpeper. 

After several days of inaction. Grant suddenly aston- 
ished Lee by starting the entire army with the ex- 
ception of Warren's corps across the Chickahominy 
River, and thence in the direction of the James River. 



358 boys' life of general grant. 

Meade's objective point was Petersburg, about t\Yenty- 
two miles south of Richmond. Several railways con- 
verge at Petersburg, and the capture of that city by 
the Union troops would inevitably lead to the sur- 
render of Richmond in a very short time. 

Butler was ordered to co-operate with Meade ; and 
it was believed that a quick movement would find 
Petersburg lightly guarded, and easy of capture. 
Butler sent General W. F. Smith with orders to at- 
tack Petersburg immediately. Meade sent Hancock's 
corps forward to aid him in the work ; and as Hancock 
was unacquainted with the region he set aside all 
question of rank, and placed himself under tlie com- 
mand of Smith. 

Smith attacked the northern defenses at seven 
o'clock on the evening of the 15th of June ; he cap- 
tured a portion of the defenses, together with three 
hundred prisoners and sixteen cannon. It was a moon- 
light night ; and if he had known how slightly Pe- 
tersburg was guarded, he would have gone straight 
inside and taken possession. 

But the wily enemy was a match for him. When 
Meade moved across the Chickahominy, Lee thought 
an attack upon the north side of Richmond was in- 
tended, and he immediately withdrew into the defenses 
of the city. On the instant when he heard of Smith's 
attack on Petersburg, he set every railway train in 



REPULSE AT PETERSBURG. 359 

motion, and utilized them in moving troops to Peters- 
burg. Smith waited until after breakfast on the morn- 
ing of the 16th before making his assault. Wlien 
he did so he found the fortifications fully manned, 
and was forced to retire after considerable loss. 

In the evening of the same day another attack di- 
rected by Grant in person was made upon Petersburg, 
but without any success. Similar attempts were made 
on the 17th and 18th of June, but to Grant's great 
disappointment each attack resulted in a repulse. It 
was not possible to take Petersburg by assault, and 
Grant was compelled to sit down for a regular siege. 
The Rebels strengthened their line between Richmond 
and Petersburg so as to protect the railwaj^ and 
they succeeded in holding it until just before the 
finul surrender. 

After the failure to capture Petersburg, Grant es- 
tablished his headquarters at City Point, at the junc- 
tion of the Appomattox and James Rivers. There 
was considerable figliting for a few days, the attacks 
being made by the Rebels, and invariably repulsed. 
Grant sent out two or three expeditions to destroy 
the railways that were bringing supplies to the Rebels ; 
one of them being successful, another partly so, while 
the third was a failure. After these events there was 
a lull in the fighting as if by mutual understanding. 
Each side held its own, and did not disturb the other 
except in the siege operations. 



360 boys' life of general grant. 

City Point was made the base of supplies, and 
immense warehouses of supplies and magazines for 
ammunition were erected there. City Point continued 
to be the headquarters for nearly nine months ; but 
all that time the siege of Petersburg was pushed, and 
there was not much idleness among the troops. Re- 
inforcements were brouglit forward, and the shattered 
regiments were filled up ; the new recruits were drilled 
and disciplined for the coming campaign ; the .veterans 
had a chance to recover from tlieir fatigue ; the sick 
in the hospitals, if seriously so, were sent North, while 
those who promised to be soon available for duty were 
nursed back to health again by the gentle hands and 
the tender hearts of the members and employees of 
the Sanitary Commission. 

It was evident that for the future the Rebels in- 
tended, if possible, to fight nowliere but behind strong 
breastworks. Grant said that under such circum- 
stances the option lay between taking time for siege 
operations, or suffering immense loss by direct attacks 
upon the fortifications. In reply to a friend, he said 
one da}^, — 

^' The Confederacy has put its last men in the field. 
They've robbed the cradle and the grave in the attempt 
to strengthen their armies ; boj^s and old men are 
guarding prisons and bridges all through the South, 
and every able-bodied man has been sent to the front. 



k 



WHAT LEE PROPOSED. 361 

We are destroying Lee's army by attrition, and when 
it is destroyed there are no more men to be had to 
replace it. In a few months more it will have ceased 
to exist." 

In the hope of compelling Grant to withdraw his 
troops from Richmond, and use them for the defense of 
Washington, Lee detached General Early's corps, and 
sent it down the Shenandoah Valley and across the 
Potomac. Early entered Maryland, captured trains 
between Baltimore and Philadelphia, threatened Balti- 
more, and burned houses within a few miles of Wash- 
ington. If he had continued h'is march with a rush, he 
might have entered the capital, and occupied it for a 
few hours ; but he was fearful tliat if he did so his 
whole force might be captured. Grant detached one 
corps from his army, and sent it to Washington, and he 
also ordered another corps, that had just reached For- 
tress Monroe, to go in the same direction ; but he did 
not move his main force from City Point, nor stop 
operations for a moment in the siege of Petersburg. 

Therein he greatly disappointed Lee, who had hith- 
erto succeeded in drawing every attention to the Nat- 
ional capital whenever he sent his forces across the 
Potomac. Lee was always favorable to carrying the 
war into the North ; and he several times proposed, so 
General Longstreet said, to abandon Richmond to its 
fate, and while Grant was occupying that city, he 



362 boys' life of general grant. 

would make a sudden move upon Washington and 
capture it. But Jefferson Davis would never consent 
to anything of the kind, claiming that whatever ad- 
vantage it might be for the Confederacy to be in 
2:)Ossession of the National capital, it would be offset 
by the loss of its own. 

One day General Grant was strolling about among 
the warehouses at City Point with the inevitable cigar 
in his mouth, and his head bent a little as if he was in 
contemplation. Suddenly he was brought to a stand- 
still by a most emphatic '' Halt ! " from the mouth of 
a negro soldier who was on duty in front of a build- 
ing. Grant obeyed the order, and said, — 

''What do you want?" 

" Throw away that cigar ! " commanded the sentinel. 

"Why?" 

" My orders are to let nobody go near that ware- 
house with a lighted cigar. Throw it away or turn 
around ! " 

Grant smiled for an instant, then threw away his 
cigar and passed on. 

Whether the soldier knew who it was that he had 
halted, we are unable to say, but the incident caused 
him to be promoted to a corporal. 

On another occasion the general was halted in the 
same way near a powder magazine. The sentry re- 
plied in answer to his question, that his orders were 
to let no one go past him. 



LINCOLN VISITS GRANT. 363 

"But I'm an officer," the general explained. 

" I don't care whether you're an officer or not ! " 
retorted the soldier. "If you were General Grant 
himself, you couldn't go by here ! " 

Grant smiled as he had smiled on the previous 
occasion, and turned the other wa}^ 

The sentries around headquarters were ordered to 
be very strict about the admission of strangers. One 
day a tall, thin man approached General Grant's tent, 
and asked if the general was in. 

" Yes, he's in ; but you can't see him." 

" I think he will see me," said the stranger. 

"Well, he won't! " was the answer. "And you'll 
find out mighty soon ! " 

"Well, please take my name to him, and we'll see." 

"I'll take your name, but 'twon't do any good. 
What is it?" 

" Abraham Lincoln." 

The sentinel stood, so Mr. Lincoln said, at least half 
a minute before he entered the tent to announce the 
name of the visitor. He ascertained that the stranger 
was right when he said he thought the general would 
see him. The first thing that Mr. Lincoln did on 
getting inside the tent was to tell the story of his 
experience, and he laughed heartily during the nar- 
ration. 

When Grant first established his headquarters at 



364 boys' life of general grant. 

City Point, the commander of a brigade stationed there 
Avished to do something that would please the general, 
and sent the brigade band to play in front of the head- 
quarters' tent Avhile the general and his staff were at 
dinner. Grant stood it without a word of comment 
until the third day, wdien, just as the music began, he 
remarked, — 

" I've noticed that that band begins its tumult just 
as I'm sitting down to dinner and want to talk. Will 
somebody order it to cease firing?" 

One of the staff-officers went to notify the band- 
master that the services of himself and followers were 
no longer desired. It took some time to make him 
comprehend, as he was a newly landed German ; but 
when he did understand he went away crestfallen. 

While the siege of Petersburg was going on, Sheri- 
dan Avas very active ; and he gave Lee, in the language 
of the West, "a heap o' trouble." He cut the railway 
lines west of Richmond, destroyed trains laden with 
supplies, and in other ways stirred things up so that 
Lee had to weaken his forces in Richmond and Peters- 
burg to take care of the very annoying cavalry leader. 

Sheridan had several encounters with the Rebel 
cavahy, and was almost invariably successful, so that 
in a few months the Rebels had very little cavalry 
left. Grant placed him in command of the forces 
which were watching General Early. Sheridan maneu- 



SHERIDAN AND EARLY. 365 

vered in the Shenandoah Valley, and bided his time 
until he had Early "just where he wanted him." 

Early concentrated upon Sheridan's center with the 
■ intention of cutting his army in two, and taking pos- 
session of a ridge in his rear. Sheridan allowed him 
to do it. With tremendous yelling the Rebels pushed 
through Sheridan's center, and found themselves in 
an ambuscade, with several brigades of infantry and 
a dozen batteries of artillery waiting for them. The 
men were mowed down like grass; entire regiments 
were captured, and what was left of the Confederate 
forces Avas speedily in rapid flight from the scene. 
Night brought an end to the fight; and it was lucky 
for Early that the night did not fail to come, as he 
would have been annihilated if daylight had lasted two 
hours longer. 

The next day Sheridan was after the Rebels again, 
and drove their broken and disorganized line through 
the gaps of the Blue Ridge. Some of the newspapers 
of that day said that Sheridan had been a printer in 
his younger days, and it was in the printing-office that 
he first learned to go to press Early. 

On the Sunday after the news of Sheridan's success 
had been published in the North, a titter ran through 
the congregation of a church in Boston, when, at the 
opening of the service, the clergyman gave out a hymn, 
and read the opening lines : — 



366 boys' life of general grant. . 

"Early, my God, without delay, 
I haste to seek thy face." 

But in the language of ]\Iacbetli, Sheridan had 
"scotched the snake, not killed it." A month later 
Early went into the Shenandoah again, and Longstreet 
went to reinforce him. Sheridan had gone to Wash- 
ington for a consultation with tlie War Department, 
leaving General Wright in command. Just as he 
reached Washington, he received a dispatch from 
Wright, saying that the signal-officers had read on 
the Rebel signal flags a message from Longstreet to 
Early as follows : — 

"Be ready to move as soon as my forces join you, and 
we will crush Sheridan." 

Sheridan stayed only six hours in Washington, and 
then started back. He reached Winchester on the 
morning of October 19, and there learned that Gen- 
eral Wright's front had been attacked at daylight by 
Longstreet's troops, and there were no better in the 
entire Confederate army. They broke the line at once, 
captured the camp, and sent the Union troops in full 
retreat down the valley. 

Sheridan rode a large, powerful black liorse ; and 
when the news reached him. of the attack, he sprang 
upon his steed and started for the front, about twenty 
miles away, telling his escort of twenty cavalry men to 



Sheridan's ride. 367 

keep up with liim if possible, but if not, to drop behind 
and turn tlieir attention to rallying the fleeing soldiers. 

Less than a mile out from Winchester he began to 
meet the demoralized fugitives. He swung his hat and 
shouted, without checking the speed of his horse : — 

" Face the other way, boys ! Right about face ! AVe're 
going back to camp ! We're going to lick them out of 
their boots ! " 

So it was througli all the length of that ride ; the 
soldiers had every confidence in their leader, and at 
his order they faced about and went as fast towards 
the front as they had been going towards the rear. 
Wright had established a new line ; and as Sheridan 
reached it, the soldiers gave him a loud shout of wel- 
come. Sheridan rode along the line, straightening it 
out, and getting it ready to resist the next advance of 
the enem3^ 

On came the Rebels, flushed with their success in 
the early hours of the battle. They dashed against 
the blue line which Sheridan had formed, but they did 
not go through. The enemy was checked, and not only 
checked, but driven back. 

An hour later Sheridan gave the order, " Forward! " 
Early endeavored to move around on Sheridan's flank, 
but he probably wished he had not done so. Sheridan 
ordered a charge against the opening in the angle, 
made his way through the enemy's line, and captured 



368 boys' life of general grant. 

the entire flanking force. Then a general advance 
drove back the whole Rebel army, capturing all the 
guns that had been lost in the morning, taking thou- 
sands of prisoners, and Early's camp with all his sup- 
plies, artillery, and wagon-trains. 

Thus was defeat turned to victory ; a disorderly 
retreat into an orderly advance ; a lowering morning 
into a sunlit afternoon — all by the genius and enthu- 
siasm of one man. Was it any wonder that the heart 
of the loyal North was stirred to the wildest enthu- 
siasm when it heard of Sheridan's achievement? Was 
it any wonder that Grant caused a salute of a hundred 
guns to be fired by each of the armies in front of Rich- 
mond, or that President Lincoln promoted Sheridan to 
the major-generalship in the regular army which had 
been made vacant by the resignation of McClellan ? 

Early never advanced again in the valley of the 
Shenandoah ; it was not an agreeable region for him 
to travel in. 

Autumn came, and then the winter ; and the armies 
lay facing each other and continually skirmishing, but 
making no especially active moves. 

One day, as a boat laden with ammunition was dis- 
charging its cargo at City Point, a case fell to the 
ground and exploded. Almost instantly the entire 
cargo blew up. Many men were killed, and several 
steamers and also several warehouses with all their 



THE GREAT EXPLOSION. 369 

contents were destroyed, the loss amounting to fully 
two millions of dollars. The explosion was heard for 
miles, and the ground was shaken as if by an earth- 
quake. 

General Grant was sitting in his tent at the time, 
reading a Richmond newspaper that had been brought 
in from the front ; and, of course, he was smoking a 
cigar. On hearing the explosion, he placed the paper 
on the table, took his cigar from his mouth, and 
stepped to the front of the tent. After surveying for 
a moment the scene of desolation, he returned to his 
camp-chair and newspaper, and resumed his smoking. 
Officers and men were running wildly in every direc- 
tion, hardly knowing what they were doing; but Grant 
was no more disturbed than he would have been had 
there been nothing more exciting than a summer 
shower. 

Grant obtained a position on the Weldon Road which 
cut off an important feeder of Lee's army. The Rebels 
made desperate attempts to regain it, but were never 
successful. 



370 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Forming negro regiments. — Anger of the Confederates. — How they 
treated some negro soldiers. — General Butler's retaliation. — General 
Lee's letter and Grant's answer. —Hood's campaign and the result. — 
Grant visits New York. — Sheridan's raid. — Last movement on Rich- 
mond. — Battles of Dinwiddle, Five Forks, and Appomattox. — Evac- 
uation of Richmond. — Lee's army in a trap. 

In the last years of the war, negro regiments were 
formed and put into the field. The Rebel authorities 
affected to look with holy horror upon any step to 
arm the negroes, and tln-eatened to kill any wlio fell 
into their hands. General Butler had several of these 
negro regiments in his command. He was endeavoring 
to shorten the course of the James River by cutting 
a canal across what was known as Dutch Gap, and set 
his neo-ro regfiments at the work. Some of these sol- 
diers were captured by the Confederates, who refused 
to treat them as regular prisoners of war, but put them 
at work on some fortifications which were under the 
fire of the Union guns. 

They probably thought they were very smart in so 
doing, but they reckoned without- their host. Butler 
had as prisoners some Rebel officers ; and he immedi- 
ately put them at work on fortifications Avhich were 



TREATMENT OF NEGRO SOLDIERS. 371 

under the fire of the Rebel guns, and he notified Gen- 
eral Lee that he would keep them there until the ne- 
groes were treated like prisoners of war. These officers 
represented the aristocracy of the South. The slave- 
owners of the Confederacy and Lee speedily saw that 
they must be relieved from their dangerous position. 
He immediately caused the negroes to be taken from 
the fortifications, and treated like white prisoners. 

Of course when General Butler was informed of this, 
he ordered a like treatment of the Confederates in his 
hands. Lee took occasion to write a long letter to 
Grant concerning tlie question of slavery and State 
rights, which Grant declined to answer, saying that he 
would have nothing to do with a discussion of the 
slavery question, ]us business being to obey his su- 
periors, and to end the war as soon as possible. 

As the winter dragged on, the siege of Richmond 
and Petersburg progressed slowly, and the other armies 
in various parts of tlie field were doing good work. 
Jefferson Davis removed General Joseph E. Johnston 
from the command of the Confederate army in the 
west, and put General J. B. Hood in his place. Hood 
was confronted by the Army of the Mississippi, which 
had steadily pressed south from Chattanooga, driving 
the Confederates before it. Immediately on taking 
command, Hood planned a campaign to the northward, 
intending to press forward to the Ohio River, and pos- 



372 boys' life of general grant. 

sibly invade Ohio and Indiana. Hood left the whole 
south uncovered, and pressed northward, as it seems, 
to his destruction. In speaking of this movement 
General Grant says : — 

"If I had the power of commanding both armies, 
I should not have changed the orders under which 
he seemed to be acting." 

At Nashville, Hood encountered General Thomas ; 
and a battle lasting altogether for two days was the 
natural consequence. Hood went no farther North. 
He entered Tennessee with a magnificent army of 
50,000 men, and retreated with less than half that 
number of men in a very demoralized condition. He 
lost 13,000 prisoners, 2,000 deserters, 72 pieces of 
artillery, and most of his wagon-train. In the battle, 
he lost 2,000 killed and wounded; and among the 
killed were six major-generals, and other officers in 
proportion. It was one of the most disastrous cam- 
paigns undertaken by any Confederate commander. 

During the winter General Grant visited Wash- 
ington several times ; and on one occasion he extended 
his journey to Philadelphia and New York, in both 
of which cities he received much attention. While 
in New York, he visited General Scott, whose biog- 
raphy had just been published. General Scott pre- 
sented him with a copy of the volume, after inscribing 
on the fly-leaf : — 



GRANT VISITS NEW YORK. 373 

" From the oldest to the ablest general in the Avorld." 
As Grant thanked him for the present, which he 
said he would always cherish with high honor, 
General Scott remarked, — 

"That inscription is not entirely original with me. 
You may remember that after the Revolutionary 
War, Frederick the Great sent a sword to George 
Washington, on which was inscribed : — 

<' From the oldest general in the world to the greatest." 

On his return to City Point, General Grant was 
accompanied by his wife and one of the younger 
children; and they remained there until the surren- 
der of Lee's army. Down to that time, General 
Grant had lived in a tent; but during his absence a 
rude log cabin was erected, and in this he resided 
until he had no more occasion to live at City Point. 

The New Year opened with a continual hammer- 
ing away at Petersburg, and with raids by Sheridan's 
cavalry. Sheridan went from the Shenandoah to 
Lynchburg, destroying railways and canals in every 
direction, capturing the Rebel camp at Waynesboro, 
and narrowly missing General Early himself as a 
prisoner. He wandered about Virginia in an appar- 
ently aimless, but very destructive, way; bewilder- 
ing the Rebels, destroying more railways, bridges, 
and canals, and finally bringing up at Grant's army. 



8<4 BOYS LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

One of his officers, Colonel Newhall, in writing about 
this campaign afterwards, said : — 

" By choosing this course, he voluntarily forsook his 
large department, and put himself in the field at the 
head of two cavalry divisions, headquarters in the saddle ; 
and, applying for a new situation, made no stipulations 
for himself, and no objection to going into the country." 

Sheridan's men and horses had a few days of rest; 
and then Grant issued general orders for a movement 
on the 29th of March. The following is an extract 
from his order to the various commanders : — 

" By these instructions a large part of the armies oper- 
ating against Richmond is left behind. The enemy, know- 
ing this, may, as an only chance, strip their lines to the 
merest skeleton, in the hope of advantage not being taken 
of it, whilst they hurl everything against the moving 
column, and return. It cannot be too strongly impressed 
upon commanders of troops left in the trenches not to 
allow this to occur without taking advantage of it. The 
very fact of the enemy coming out to attack, if he does so, 
might be regarded as most conclusive evidence of such a 
w^eakening of his lines. I would have it particularly 
enjoined upon corps commanders that, in case of attack 
from the enemy, those not attacked are not to wait for 
orders from the commanding officer of the army to which 
they belong ; but that they will move promptly, and notify 
the commander of their action. I would also enjoin the 
same action on the part of division commanders, when 



ORDERS TO SHERIDAN. 375 

other parts of their corps are engaged. In like manner, 
I would ii'rge the importance of following up a repulse of 
the enemy." 

Before daylight on the 29th of March, Meade, Sher- 
idan, and Ord had broken camp, and were movino- 
forward. The President was at City Point, and break- 
fasted with General Grant. After breakfast he went 
with Grant and his staff to the train, and bade them 
good-by as they started for the front, eighteen miles 
away. This railway was constructed by Grant's orders 
for the facilities that it afforded for the pushing for- 
ward of supplies, siege-material, and troops, in the in- 
trenchments before Petersburg and Richmond. 

In the afternoon Sheridan with his cavalry reached 
Dinwiddle Court House. The wagon-train failed to 
come up, and the men and officers went to bed with- 
out supper. Soon after dark Sheridan received a note 
from Grant, which read as follows : — 

" Our line is now unbroken from the Appomattox to 
Dinwiddle. ... I now feel like ending the matter, if it 
is possible to do so, before going back. I do not want 
you, therefore, to cut loose and go after the enemy's roads 
at present. In the morning push around the enemy, if 
you can, and get on to his right rear." 

It came on to rain during the night of the 29th, 
and rained all day on the 30th. The roads became 



376 boys' life of general grant. 

so bad that the movement of the army was next to 
impossible. Sheridan advanced his line in the direc- 
tion of Five Forks, which he reached on the morning 
of the 31st. Here he encountered the Rebel cavalry, 
backed by a heavy column of infantry. Warren's 
corps came up to reinforce him : but they found the 
force in front of them too strong to contend with, 
and fell back to Dinwiddie Court House. He held 
his position there during that day, and made another 
move on the 1st of April. His plan for the battle, 
which took place on tlie afternoon of that day, was 
clearly outlined in liis official report : — 

"I determined that I Avould drive the enemy with cav- 
alry to Five Forks, press them inside their works, and 
make a feint to turn their right flank ; and meanwhile 
quietly move up the Fifth (Warren's) Corps, with a view 
to attacking their left flank, crush the whole force if 
possible, and drive westward those who might escape, thus 
isolating them from their army at Petersburg." 

Considerable time was spent in maneuvering for 
position ; and at four in the afternoon everything was 
ready. It was a hard fight, and a Union triumph. 
The Rebels were taken in front and rear, and more 
than five thousand of them piled their guns and sur- 
rendered. The rest were cut off from Lee's army, 
and scattered in every direction, principally to the 



PLANS TO CAPTURE LEE. ^ 377 

westward. The victory gave the Union troops pos- 
session of the South-Side Railway, six miles north 
of Five Forks, and possession also of that important 
point, which derives its name from being the meeting- 
place of five wagon-roads. Only one railway, the 
Kichraond and Danville, remained to Lee; and if 
Grant could obtain possession of that, the surrender 
of Richmond would be inevitable. 

General Grant cared much less for the capture of 
Richmond than he did for the surrender of Lee's army. 
Of course the possession of the Rebel capital was a 
matter of great importance to all concerned; but the 
escape of Lee was to be prevented if possible. His 
army, by marching westward, could unite with Joe 
Johnston's ; and then the combined forces of these tAvo 
generals would seriously endanger the safety of the 
Army of the Mississippi, which was then confronting 
Johnston. Grant's plans included the surrender of 
Lee along with the capture of Richmond, and step 
by step he was carrying them out. 

At daybreak on the 2d of April there was a general 
assault along the Confederate line at Petersburg and 
Richmond by the Second, Sixth, Ninth, Twenty-fourth, 
and Twenty-fifth Corps. Tlie fire of the enemy was 
destructive, and retarded the advance at several points, 
but could not stop it. The Sixth Corps carried the 
works in its front ; and one division (Seymour's) broke 



378 boys' life of general grant. 

through to the South-Side Railway, and began to tear 
it up. The Twenty-fourth Corps was also successful, 
and so were the Second and Ninth. The Ninth had 
probably the hardest fighting of the day, in which it 
captured Fort Mahone, on the Jerusalem plank-road. 
The enemy tried to take it back, and was nearly suc- 
cessful, when the Sixth Corps came to the aid of the 
Ninth, and the dearly obtained position was saved. 
A Confederate brigade (Hariis's), which defended one 
of the forts, was two hundred and fifty strong at the 
beginning of the battle, and lost two hundred and 
twenty men before it was over. 

After the outer line was taken, and the troops were 
movino- on the inner line. General Grant with his staff 
took up a position on a little hill which overlooked 
the field of operations. The spot was within range 
of the enemy's guns, and the Rebels soon turned one 
of their batteries in the direction of the group of ofii- 
cers and cavalrymen. The general had dismounted 
and sat down under a tree, where he busied himself 
with reading dispatches that came to him every few 
minutes, and sending orders to the generals who were 
conducting operations. 

The fire became pretty hot ; and several of the staff, 
who feared the general might be killed, suggested to 
him that they had better change their position for 
one of greater safety. He paid no attention to any 



RICHMOND IK DANGER. 379 

of their remarks, and evidently didn't observe the 
cannon-shot falling around him. When he got through 
with his dispatches, he stood up and looked . around ; 
then he mounted his horse, and started for another 
part of the field, remarking as he did so, — 
'' The fellows seem to have the range on us." 
Along nearly the whole line the outer defenses were 
entirely in the hands of the assailants; and, though 
Lee still held the city of Petersburg, he saw that 
his position was no longer tenable. Accordingly, at 
10.30 A.M., he telegraphed as follo^ys to President 
Davis : — 

^'My lines are broken in three places. Richmond must 
be evacuated this evening." 

Mr. Davis was in church when this dispatch was 
handed to him. He rose and walked out quietly, and 
the service went on as though nothing had happened. 
But there was a deathly silence over the whole con- 
gregation, and every one felt that something awful 
was about to happen. After the service Avas over 
the news spread rapidly ; and before noon everybody 
who cared to know was aware that Richmond was 
about to be occupied by the enemy. 

There was great excitement in the city all throu<rh 
the afternoon, many persons desiring to go with the 
Confederate Government and follow its fortunes. 



380 boys' life of genekal grant. 

Wagons and carriages rose to an enormous price, as 
mucli as one hundred dollars in gold or Union cur- 
rency being offered for a conveyance for a single day. 
The streets were filled with a mass of fugitives, 
carrying trunks, boxes, and all sorts of receptacles. 
As a precautionary measure the City Council or- 
dered the destruction of all intoxicating liquors in 
Richmond; and hundreds of barrels were rolled out, 
and their contents poured into the gutters. General 
Ewell ordered the burning of the four principal 
tobacco warehouses in spite of the protests of the 
mayor and council, who feared that the whole busi- 
ness part of the city would be destroyed. As was 
expected, the hre caused great destruction; and the 
first work of the Union troops that entered Rich- 
mond was to extinguish the flames. The Confederate 
gunboats were blown up and burned ; and all the 
steamers at the docks were burned, with the excep- 
tion of a single flag-of-truce boat. 

The government wagoiis removed as much as pos- 
sible from the commissary depot, and then the place 
was thrown open to the public to help themselves. 
Bacon, flour, etc., were distributed to many who were 
long in sore need of it. As usually happens in such 
cases, the strong overpowered the weak ; and it is 
said that several persons were trampled to death in 
the rush that followed the opening of the doors. 



EVACUATING RICHMOND. 381 

During the night of the 2d, the evacuation went 
on ; and about 3 A. M. a negro came from Richmond 
into the Union lines, and announced that the Con- 
federates had gone. General Weitzel rode in about 
6 A. M. Threading his way carefully over the ground, 
which was thickly planted with torpedoes, and ac- 
companied by his staff, he reached the center of the 
city in advance of his troops, and hoisted the Am- 
erican flag over the Capitol. The Confederate works 
were found to be of great strength; and those who 
saw them did not wonder that the Union army had 
been so long kept at bay, when they remembered 
that the defenses were manned by Lee's tried and 
trusty veterans. 

The evacuation of Petersburg . was simultaneous 
with that of Richmond, and was conducted so quietly 
that the Union pickets, only a few yards away, were 
unaware of it until daylight showed that the Con- 
federates had gone. They had a start of several 
miles, marching out along the Danville Railway, and 
the direct road to Lynchburg, by which Lee still 
hoped to effect a junction with Johnston, and again 
take the offensive, either against Grant or the Army 
of the Mississippi. Unfortunately for him, he was 
compelled to take the north side of the Appomattox, 
as the forces of Grant were mainly on the south 
side of the river, and completely barred his retreat 
in that direction. 



382 BOYS* LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT. 

With his army reduced to less than thirty-five 
thousand men, Lee pushed as rapidly as possible to 
Amelia Court House, where he had ordered supplies 
from Danville. By a mistake in the execution of 
the order these supplies were sent to Richmond, and 
consequently the wearied and famished soldiers were 
compelled to forage on the already exhausted country, 
and find what food they could. Here he rested on 
the 4th and 5th of April, and then prepared to ad- 
vance, still hoping to reach Lynchburg before the 
enemy could interfere with him. But his plans were 
rudely frustrated. 

By following directly after Lee and engaging him 
in battle, Grant would still leave an open way to 
Lynchburg in case of defeat. His object was not to 
defeat, but to capture, Lee with his whole army; 
and with this object in view he sent Sheridan with 
the cavalry and the Fifth Corps to move as rapidly as 
possible by roads considerably south of the one through 
Amelia Court House, and thus get in front of Lee 
and intercept his movements. S-heridan executed 
the order with the dash for which he was famous. 
He struck the line of the Richmond and Danville 
Railway at Jettersville, where he planted himself, 
prepared to resist the whole of Lee's forces until 
Grant and Meade could come up and deliver a crush- 
ing blow in the rear. Late in the afternoon of the 



CUTTING OFF LEE's RETREAT. 

5th, Meade arrived with the Second and Sixth Corps, 
while Lee was still at Amelia Court House, which 
he left on the night of the 5th. 

Lee marched around the position of Meade and 
Sheridan at Jetersville, aiming for Farmville, where 
he hoped to cross the Appomattox and escape. But 
General Davies, with his cavalry brigade, had ad- 
vanced to the road and struck Lee's train in advance 
of his infantry, destroying one hundred and eighty 
wagons and capturing five guns and many prisoners. 
Two other cavalry brigades Came to the relief of 
Davies, who was hard pressed by the enemy. They 
fell back to Jetersville, where they continued the pur- 
suit the next day (6th), striking the enemy at Sailor's 
Creek, where a brilliant engagement was fought; four 
hundred wagons were destroyed, and sixteen guns 
and a considerable number of prisoners were taken. 
The Confederate line was pierced. General Ewell's 
division, six thousand strong, being cut off from the 
rest and compelled to surrender, though it fought 
as long as there was any chance of escape. 

On the evening of the 6th, Lee crossed the Appo- 
mattox at Farmville, his rear being so closely pressed 
that he was unable to destroy the bridge of the wagon- 
road, though he succeeded in burning tlie railway 
bridge. The rear guard retired just as (xeneral Bar- 
low's division arrived, and so rapid \ya8 the retreat 



384 boys' life of general grant. 

that the Confederates abandoned eighteen guns and 
many wagons. The pursuit was kept up through the 
7th and 8th, with no engagement of consequence. The 
Second and Sixth Corps under Meade followed directly 
in the trail of Lee and his fugitive companions, while 
Sheridan's cavalry pushed forward to head off Lee, 
followed by Ord's and Griffin's infantry divisions, 
who could not, of course, keep pace with the horses. 
As it was now impossible for Lee to make for Dan- 
ville, Sheridan took a position to head him off from 
Lynchburg, which was now his only place of refuge. 
Sheridan learned that four trains, laden with supplies 
for Lee's starving soldiers, had been sent from Lynch- 
burg, and were at Prospect Station, five miles from 
Appomattox Court House. Making a forced march 
of twenty-eight miles, he captured these trains, and 
then sent Custer's division forward, which soon found 
itself in front of Lee's advance. 

Custer fought until darkness put an end to the com- 
bat, driving the advance back upon the main body of 
the army, and capturing twenty-five guns, a hospital 
train, and a large number of wagons, and making many 
prisoners. Sheridan brought up the rest of the cavalry, 
and planted it right in front of Lee's army, and sent 
couriers to Grant, Griffin, and Ord, saying that the 
capture of Lee's whole army was now certain. Griffin 
and Ord, with their corps and one division of the 



A DRAMATIC SPECTACLE. 385 

Twenty-fifth Corps, made a forced march during the 
night, and reached Appomattox at daylight on the 9th. 

And now came one of the most dramatic incidents 
of the war, an incident that dwarfs to littleness the 
most magnificent spectacle ever presented on the 
theatrical stage. 

On the morning of that memorable 9th of April, 
Lee's army of ragged, starved, wearied soldiers was 
drawn up in battle array in front of Sheridan's cavalry. 
Their ranks had been terribly reduced by the events 
of the past ten days, and out of the fifty thousand that 
held the trenches at Petersburg and Richmond on the 
28th of March, little more than ten thousand remained 
actually effective for battle. But though few in num- 
ber, worn, weary, and suffering from the pangs of 
hunger, they were ready to meet their adversaries, 
and prepared without flinching to charge upon Sheri- 
dan's troopers. It was the last charge of the Army 
of Northern Virginia. 

By Sheridan's order the cavalry in line of battle 
dismounted and gave way gradually, though all the 
while showing a steady front, in order to give time 
for the wearied infantry of Ord's and Griffin's corps 
to take up their position. When this had been ac- 
complished, the cavalry remounted and moved rapidly 
to the right, in order to come in upon the Confederate 
left for a flanking charge. As the cavalry thus drew 



886 boys' life of general grant. 

away from its former position, the Confederate com- 
mander saw, to his astonishment, the long and solid 
lines of the Union infantry, lines of blue tipped with 
tlie steel of flashing bayonets, and stippled at intervals 
with the muzzles of cannon, with the artillerymen 
in their places ready for their death-dealing work. 

The hopelessness of the charge was apparent to every 
Confederate officer who saw that mass of infantry 
waiting for the assault. The advance was stopped ; 
and in a few minutes a white flag was displayed in 
front of General Custer, who was leading Sheridan's 
cavalry column, and preparing for a charge upon the 
Confederate left. With the white flag came the infor- 
mation that the Confederates were ready to surrender. 
General Sheridan immediately rode over towards the 
Confederate lines, where he was met by General 
Gordon, who asked that hostilities be suspended. He 
added that Generals Grant and Lee were already nego- 
tiating for a capitulation, and said he had no doubt 
that the terms would be speedily arranged. 

The capitulation liad been discussed among the 
Confederate officers around a camp-fire on the night 
of the 6th. General Lee was not present, but the 
opinion of his officers was conveyed to him by General 
Pendleton. The decision was unanimous that a sur- 
render was inevitable, as the army had been terribly 
reduced in numbers, and the men who remained were 



SURRENDER INEVITABLE. 387 

SO weakened by famine that large numbers of them 
had thrown away their guns, being too feeble to carry 
them. Even if they could escape from their pursuers, 
they could only do so by abandoning all their artillery 
and heavy munitions, and they had already lost a large 
part of their wagon-train. 



388 boys' life of general grant. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Lee's surrender. — How it was brought about. — Terms of the agreement. 

— Johnston's surrender. — President Lincoln's visit to Richmond. — 
Reception by the negroes. — How New York received the great news. 

— Lincoln's return to Washington. — Grant's return. — Assassination 
of the President. — How Grant escaped. — The President's dream. — 
Anger of the North. — The Freuch in Mexico. — How they were driven 
out. 

On the 7th, General Grant took the initiative, and 
thus saved Lee the mortification of proposing a sur- 
render. He wrote a letter couched in the following 

language : — 

April 7, 1865. 

General, — The result of last week must convince you 
of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of 
the Army of Northern Virginia in this struggle. I feel 
that it is so ; and regard it as my duty to shift from 
myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood 
by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the 
Confederate States forces known as the Army of North- 
ern Virginia. 

U. S. GRANT, 

Lieut.-Gen. 

Gen. E. E. Lee. 

General Lee received the letter late in the afternoon, 
and replied briefly, asking the terms of surrender. 



NEGOTIATIONS. 389 

though not admitting the hopelessness of the further 
struggle. Grant replied on the 8th to the effect that 
the only terms he could accept were unconditional 
surrender, the men and officers surrendered being dis- 
qualified from taking up arms until properly exchanged. 
Lee responded on the same evening, saying that he 
did not think that the emergency had arisen for the 
surrender of the army, that he did not intend to 
propose it, but only wished to know the terms that 
would be demanded. He declined meeting General 
Grant for the purpose of negotiating a surrender, 
but expressed a wish to meet him with a view to the 
restoration of peace. 

On the morning of the 9th, General Grant wrote 
again to General Lee to the effect that he had no 
authority to treat for peace, and the proposed meeting 
would therefore do no good. He added that the terms 
on which peace could be obtained were Avell under- 
stood ; that the South must lay down its arms, and by 
so doing would save thousands of human lives and 
hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. 

Immediately after the stoppage of the last charge of 
the Army of Northern Virginia in the manner previ- 
ously described, General Grant rode to Sheridan's head- 
quarters, and while on his way there received a note 
from General Lee, asking for an interview Avith refer- 
ence to the surrender of the army. Hostilities had 



890 boys' life of general grant. 

been suspended, and the interview of the two com- 
manders took place in half an hour after the receipt of 
the note. 

It was held at the house of Mr. W. McLean, near 
the court-house of Appomattox, and was over in a 
short time, as the business was easily arranged. Offi- 
cers and men were paroled not to take up arms again 
until properly exchanged, all public property, arms, 
and artillery to be parked and stacked, and turned 
over to the officers appointed to receive them. The 
officers were allowed to retain their side-arms, horses, 
and personal baggage ; and though not mentioned in 
the official documents, General Grant afterwards per- 
mitted the cavalry and artillery soldiers to retain 
their horses, remarking, as a reason for his leniency, 
that they would "be useful in putting in a crop." 
Twenty-seven thousand men were said to have been 
included in Lee's capitulation, but not more than ten 
thousand were actually in line of battle with their 
arms on the morning of the 9th of April. 

The victory at Five Forks was the prelude to the 
surrender at Appomattox, and that surrender was 
practically the end of the war. One after another 
the remaining armies of the Confederates submitted 
to the fortune of war and laid down their arms, and 
in every instance the terms accorded were almost iden- 
tical with those an-anged between Grant and Lee. No 



LAST BATTLE OF THE WAR. 891 

great battle was fought after Lee's surrender; and of 
the few collisions that occurred before the wings of 
peace were outstretched all over the whole country, 
there were none of consequence. The last battle of 
the war was fought in Texas, May 13, resulting in 
a loss of about thirty killed and wounded on the Union 
side, some forty or fifty taken prisoners, and four or 
five wounded on the Confederate side. 

The number of men paroled in the Confederate ar- 
mies, at the close of the war, was 174,223, and at the 
same time 98,802 Confederate prisoners of war were 
held in Northern prisons or depots. The aggregate 
Union force on the muster-rolls of the Union armies 
on March 1, 1865, was 965,591, and on the 1st of May 
the number exceeded 1,000,000. On that date all 
enlistments were suspended, and shortly afterwards 
the work of disbanding the army began. By the end 
of November more than 800,000 men had been mus- 
tered out of the service, and returned to the occupa- 
tions of civil life. The sudden termination of the war 
was unexpected by the great mass of the public on 
both sides, though to the thoughtful leaders who 
knew the conditions against which they were contend- 
ing, the result was apparent months and months before. 
President Lincoln came to City Point a day or two 
before the final movement against Richmond and Lee^s 
army. On the morning of the evacuation of Peters- 



392 boys' life oj^ general grant. 

burg he went to tlie front by train, and there met Gen- 
eral Grant, their interview lasting but a few minutes, 
as neither had much time to spare. General Grant 
hurried away to meet Sheridan, while Mr. Lincoln 
returned to City Point, and proceeded to Richmond in 
a rowboat, accompanied by Admirals Farragut and 
Porter. He had appeared worn and anxious for sev- 
eral months, owing to the many disappointments he 
had suffered in consequence of the failure to take Rich- 
mond ; but now his face was lighted up with joy, and 
he seemed to possess the vigor and enthusiasm of a 
young man of twenty. The negroes in Richmond 
gathered about him, and hailed him as their deliverer 
from bondage. They grasped his hands whenever it 
was possible to do so, and hundreds of them kissed the 
ground on which he walked. They gave cheer upon 
cheer for their friend and savior, and their admiration 
and devotion brought tears to his eyes. The President 
lifted his hat, and bowed to the assembled multitude ; — 
what President of the United States had ever before 
bared his head to an assemblage of negroes ? 

He visited the Presidential mansion of the Confed- 
eracy, where only two days before Jefferson Davis had 
presided, at a reception. He wanted to see Libby 
Prison, where so many thousands of Union soldiers had 
suffered in captivity. When he went through it the 
tables had been turned ; there were no Union prisoners 



EEJOICINGS IN THE NORTH. 393 

there, and the place they had so long occupied was 
now filled with Confederate prisoners of war. 

While he was making his visit to Richmond the 
telegraph was flashing the news all over the North of 
the capture of that city. Wild as had been the scenes 
when the victories of Donelson, Vicksburg, Gettys- 
burg, and Chattanooga became known, Avilder yet 
were the scenes that followed the knowledge of the 
fall of Richmond. In the general excitement, business 
was almost entirely suspended ; streets and houses were 
covered with flags; friends and acquaintances, and 
even men unknown to each other, shook hands and 
embraced like brothers after a separation of twenty 
years. On the Stock Exchange of New York, on the 
Produce Exchange, and in other places where business 
men assembled, the object of their assemblage was for- 
gotten for the time. They joined hands and sang, not 
always tunefully, but in great volumes of sound, the 
words of -Old. Hundred," "The Battle Cry of Free- 
dom," and the "Star Spangled Banner," and perhaps 
louder than in other melodies their voices rose in uni- 
son in that well-known refrain : — 

" John Brown's body lies moldering in the grave, 
But his soul goes marching on." 

Everybody realized that the end of the war was at 
hand. The fall of Richmond meant the fall of the 



394 

Confederacy, and the fall of the Confederacy was the 
guaranty of peace. 

President Lincoln remained at City Point until after 
the surrender of Lee, and then returned to Washington. 
After the terms of the surrender were settled, General 
Grant returned to City Point, briefly stopping at Rich- 
mond and Petersburg on the way. On the morning of 
the 13th he arrived in Washington, and was actively 
engaged during the whole day. A few hours after his 
arrival, the War Department issued a general order that 
all drafting of recruits should be stopped immediately, 
together with all purchases of ammunition, provisions, 
and war material in general. 

He was thoroughly satisfied with what he had accom- 
plished ; and this was evident in his official report of the 
surrender of Lee, and the events that immediately pre- 
ceded it. The closing paragraph of his report is an 
excellent illustration of his magnaminous character. 

" It has been my fortune to see the armies of both the 
West and the East fight battles ; and from what I have seen 
I know there is no difference in their fighting qualities. 
All that is possible for men to do in battle they have done. 
The Westprn armies commenced their battles in the Missis- 
sippi Valley, and received the final surrender of the prin- 
cipal army opposed to them in North Carolina. The 
armies of the East commenced their battles on the river 
from which the Army of the Potomac derived its name, 



WASHINGTON ILLUMINATED. 395 

and received the final surrender of their old antagonist 
at Appomattox Court House, Va. The splendid achieve- 
ments of each have nationalized our victories, removed all 
sectional jealousies (of which we have, unfortunately, ex- 
perienced too much), and the cause of crimination or re- 
crimination that might have followed had either section 
failed in its duty. 

^' All have a proud record ; and all sections can congratu- 
late themselves and each other for having done their full 
share in restoring the supremacy of law over every foot of 
territory belonging to the United States. Let them hope 
for perpetual peace and harmony with that enemy, whose 
manhood, however mistaken the cause, drew forth such 
Herculean deeds of valor." 

There was a grand illumination of the public build- 
ings of Washington on the evening of the 13th of 
April. An immense crowd flooded the streets, and 
there were impromptu public meetings and speeches 
in a dozen places at once. At the request of the 
President, General Grant drove out with Mrs. Lincoln 
to look at the illuminations. As they went along, 
there was a continuous peal of cheering for General 
Grant and Mr. Lincoln. Whenever the carriage came 
in the vicinity of any of the public meetings just men- 
tioned, the crowd gave a rousing three times tliree for 
the General and for the President. Never before had 
such enthusiasm been witnessed in the national capital; 
and the people everywhere had but one sentiment to 
express. 



396 boys' life of general grant. 

The next day there was a meeting of the cabinet, and 
all the members remarked that they had never seen the 
President in such good spirits. By special invitation 
General Grant attended the meeting, and the time was 
principally devoted to a discussion of the reconstruction 
measures which must follow the end of the war. Mr. 
Lincoln remarked that before every great event of the 
war he had had a curious dream. "I dreamt that I 
saw a ship sailing very rapidly ; and that dream always 
precedes some very important event." 

Before the meeting broke up, the President said that 
he was going to the theater that night with Mrs. Lin- 
coln to witness the performance of "Our American 
Cousin." Mrs. Lincoln wanted to go, and he had 
agreed to accompany her. He further said that Mrs. 
Lincoln told him to invite General and Mrs. Grant to 
go with them, as there would be room enough in the 
box for all. General Grant excused himself by saying 
that he and his wife were to leave that night for Bur- 
lington, N. J., where some of his children were at 
school. 

The general was busy all that day at the war de- 
partment, and got around to the hotel just in time to 
eat a hasty dinner and catch the train for the north ; 
Mrs. "Grant having already packed their trunks, and 
sent them to the railway station. 

When the time came for the party to go to the 



DEATH OF LINCOLN. 397 

theater, Mr. Lincoln wanted to remain at home; but 
the newspapers had announced that both he and 
Grant would be present; and as he was unwilling to 
disappoint the public, he went to see the play. 

The party arrived after the performance began, and 
of course its arrival caused some commotion in the 
theater. This quickly subsided, and the play went 
on. About half-past ten o'clock, while Mr. Lincoln 
was resting his chin upon his hand, and his elbow 
upon the front of the box, John Wilkes Booth, one 
of the famous dramatic family of that name, came 
into the box, placed the muzzle of a revolver at the 
back of the President's head, and fired. The bullet 
entered the brain of the victim; and although Mr. 
Lincoln lived for nine hours, he displayed no con- 
sciousness, and seemed to suffer no pain whatever. 
He -was carried to a neighboring house, where he lin- 
gered until the next morning, when he died, sur- 
rounded by all of the officers of his cabinet who were 
able to be with him, and several other of his inti- 
mate friends. 

The investigation which followed showed that a 
plot had been formed to murder the President, Secre- 
tary Seward, General Grant, the Vice-president, and 
other men prominent in national affairs. 

Almost at the moment when the President was 
shot, an assassin named Payne entered the room where 



398 boys' life of general grant. 

Mr. Seward was lying in bed in consequence of in- 
juries received in a carriage accident a few days 
before. Mr. Seward's son endeavored to stop him, 
and narrowly escaped being killed. Twice the assas- 
sin snapped a pistol at him, and then threw him to 
the floor with such violence as to break his skull. 
Then, with a dagger, he struck three times at the sec- 
retary's throat, wounding him frightfully. Doubtless 
he would have succeeded in his attempt at murder 
had not Mr. Seward rolled out of bed on the other 
side. Payne then fled from the house, stabbing on 
his way an attendant and two other men who tried 
to intercept him. 

General Grant escaped assassination, or an attempt 
at it, by his unexpected departure from the city. He 
received news of the occurrence after passing through 
Philadelphia. He continued with his wife to Burling- 
ton, and immediately returned to Washington. 

All over the North the rejoicings over the capture 
of Richmond and the surrender of Lee's army were 
changed to mourning for the death of the President; 
and the grief was intensified in consequence of the 
terribly tragic manner of his death. The next morn- 
ing the newspapers all appeared in mourning ; business 
was suspended as though it were Sunday ; and in a 
few hours all the great cities were draped in the 
habiliments of sorrow. Strong men as they met each 



A LAND OF MOURNING. 399 

other shook hands without a word, and passed on. 
Their hearts were too full for utterance, and their grief 
overpowered them. Never was suph a scene of sor- 
row witnessed in the country; never were so many 
tears shed for a man who was not personally known 
to those who wept ; never since the death of General 
Washington did the American public find their hearts 
so touched by the loss of a great man as when Abraham 
Lincoln was assassinated. There had been differences 
of opinion concerning his policy, but no one doubted 
his honesty of purpose in everything that he had done 
or tried to do for the nation. Rich and poor alike 
revered him; and especially was he beloved by the 
humbler class of people. The badges of mourning 
were as abundant in the tenements of the squalid 
parts of the great cities as in the fashionable quarters, 
in the log cabins of the prairie as in the mansions 
of the rich. 

Most sincerely was he mourned by the race of 
people he had liberated from slavery, — the toiling mil- 
lions whom he had made free. Among the negro 
race, lamentations over the death of Mr. Lincoln were 
long and loud. Negro lips everywhere uttered pray- 
era to God in his behalf; and to this day, among 
the colored race the world over, the name of Lincoln 
is revered and cherished. 

Before Mr. Lincoln's death many people in the North 



400 

had grown impatient over his leniency to the Rebels, in 
view of the sufferings which the Union soldiers had 
endured in Southern prisons. After his assassination 
there was a wide-spread demand for more severe treat- 
ment, and also that the Rebels yet in arms should 
receive terms less favorable than liad been accorded 
to Lee. Of course the public could not always un- 
derstand matters of policy. Grant's terms to Lee 
had been liberal, partly from feeling and partly from 
policy. He wanted to end the bloodshed as quickly 
as possible, and, with a soldier's instinct, did not wish 
to humiliate men who had fought so bravely for what 
they believed to be right. On the side of policy he 
made his terms liberal, knowing that, if Lee refused 
them, he would be unable to keep his men together 
when they knew what had been offered, while, if Lee 
accepted them, Johnston's men would demand the 
same terms. But after the tragic event of the 14th 
of April, the great mass of people at the North com- 
plained of the liberality which had been shown, and 
were clamorous that some of the leading Rebels should 
be hanged, *' to encourage the others." 

Johnston's army surrendered on the same terms that 
had been accorded to Lee; and very speedily peace had 
spread her wings all over the country — no, not en- 
tirely over the country, as there was a war-cloud 
hanging over our south-western horizon, 



.THE FRENCH IN MEXICO. 401 

While the Civil War was in progress, England, 
France, and Spain had interfered in Mexico on the 
pretense of collecting debts that were due to subjects 
of those countries. All three sent expeditions to 
Mexico; but England and Spain shortly withdrew, 
leaving France in possession. Napoleon III., then 
Emperor of France, determined to set up an Empire 
in Mexico ; and induced Maximilian I., brother of the 
Emperor of Austria, to accept the crown. It was uni- 
versally believed that nothing of the kind would have 
been attempted, had not the United States been in 
trouble over its home affairs. The establishment of 
an empire in Mexico was not in accordance with Amer- 
ican ideas. General Grant proceeded to act in this 
matter as soon as the Rebellion was brought to an 
end. He induced the government to concentrate sixty 
thousand troops on the western borders of Texas, 
under the command of General Sheridan, and having 
done this, make a very plain intimation to Napoleon 
III. that the sooner he got his troops out of Mexico 
the better it would be for him and for them. 

Louis Napoleon staid not upon the order of his 
going, but went. In spite of the pleadings of Maxi- 
milian and his wife, Carlotta, he agreed to withdraw 
all his soldiers from Mexico before November, 1867. 
The Empress Carlotta went to France to solicit in 
person the withdrawal of this agreement, but her 



402 boys' life or general grant. 

pleadings were vain. Shortly after the denial of her 
appeal by the French emperor she became a hopeless 
lunatic. The French troops were withdrawn from 
Mexico, Maximilian was captured, and, with two Mex- 
ican generals who adhered to his cause, was shot, after 
trial, on the 19th of June, 1867. President Juarez was 
soon once more in the presidential chair in the capital 
of Mexico, and from that time on comparative peace 
lias reigned throughout the country. 



gbant's teip to the west. 403 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Grant makes a tour through the Nortliern States, — Revisits Galena. — 
Citizens give him a house. — The new sidewalk. — Goes to Missouri 
and Ohio. — Visits the South. - Secretary of War ad interim.— Im 

peachment of Andrew Jolmson. — Nominated for the presidency. 

Elected.— His administration.— Re-elected. — Retirement. — Journey 
around the world. — In Cuba and Mexico. — Bankruptcy. — Writing 
his memoirs. — Disease. — Death. 

In the June following the surrender of Lee, General 
Grant made a trip through the Northern States, his 
main object being the fulfillment of a promise to at- 
tend a grand fair in Chicago, which was given for the 
benefit of disabled soldiers and their families. As a 
matter of course, he met a magnificent reception every- 
where he Avent. In July he went to Saratoga, and 
from there to Boston, and thence made a tour through 
Maine and Canada, with his face turned towards his 
old home in Galena. Needless to say, one of the 
warmest receptions he received was in the place 
whence, four years before, he started for the war. 

The streets were thronged in every direction, and so 
densely that it was difficult to pass through the crowds. 
Magnificent arches spanned the streets ; and he was 
driven in a carriage, with the ma3^or, to the house 
which the city liad bought and presented to liini, at a 



404 boys' life of general grant. 

cost of sixteen thousand dollars. As they passed in 
front of the house, the mayor placed in his hands the 
title-deeds to the property, and called his attention to 
the sidewalk, which extended from the house to the 
railway station. As stated elsewhere in this volume, 
an arch across the street bore the announcement that 
the sidewalk had been built. Other houses in Wash- 
ington and in Philadelphia were shortly afterwards 
presented to him, so that the general was well sup- 
plied with residences. 

Grant and his family remained in their new house 
in Galena until September ; and after visiting St. Louis 
he went to his native State, and revisited the scenes of 
his boyhood. He reached Washington in October, and 
late in November started to make a tour of the South- 
ern States, to examine the military forces and the 
Freedmen's Bureau, and ascertain the feeling of the 
Southern people. After he returned from this tour, 
the House of Representatives passed a bill reviving 
the grade of General of the Army of the United States, 
which had never been held by any one except Wash- 
ington. The intention was to make it a special rank for 
General Grant, and for nobody else. A clause in the bill 
set forth this object distinctly in the following words : — 

"Whenever any General shall have been appointed and 
eommissioned under the provisions of this act, if there- 



JOHNSON IMPEACHED. 405 

after the office shall become vacant, this act shall thereupon 
expire and remain no longer in force." 

The Senate immediately approved the measure, and 
it was signed by President Johnson. General Grant 
was appointed, and the ^ title expired when he became 
President. It was renewed by Act of Congress a few 
months prior to his death. 

Andrew Johnson, who became President after Mr. 
Lincoln's death, had all along breathed the most bitter 
sentiments of hostility toward the Rebels and all 
who favored their cause. It was universally felt and 
believed that, under his administration, they would be 
treated with great severity ; but hardly had he come 
into power before he changed his tone completely, and 
from a violent antagonist of the Rebels he became 
their warm supporter and friend. Naturally this made 
a breach between him and the loyal friends of the 
Government. So wide grew the breach between them 
that he was impeached, and tried for treason. 

Impeachment failed, and during the rest of his term 
there was a condition of hostility between the Presi- 
dent and Congress and nearly all other loyal men of 
the administration. The quarrel included Secretary 
Stanton and General Grant; the President suspended 
Secretary Stanton, and put General Grant in his place' 
ad interim. Congress had .passed a law prohibiting the 



406 boys' life of general grant. 

removal of an officer against his will without consent 
of the Senate, but Johnson found a way of getting 
around this restriction by suspending him from duty. 
Previous to this, Grant had written a very earnest 
letter to the President (marking it private), protesting 
against any change being made. When Grant accepted 
the office ad interim, he was bitterly denounced as 
being a tool in the hands of Johnson. Later on, when 
his private letter to the President was published, the 
same papers commended his wise discretion and reti- 
cence. He took the office very unwillingly, but while 
he held it he performed very efficient work. In a few 
months he surrendered the place to Stanton, and said 
to a friend that he proposed to take a rest for a 
while. He did as he said he would, visiting various 
parts of the country, but spending a good portion of 
his time in Washington. 

The National Republican Party to nominate a can- 
didate for the presidency met in Chicago on the 
19th of May, 1868. There were six hundred and fifty 
delegates from all the States of the Union in attend- 
ance at that convention; and when the roll of States 
was called for the choice of the delegates as the 
next president, six hundred and fifty votes were 
cast for Grant. The wildest enthusiasm prevailed at 
the announcement of the vote ; hats and handkerchiefs 
were waved in air, and the building in which the 



"WATCH him!" 407 

convention was held resounded with cheers prolonged 
for fifteen or twenty minutes. 

One enthusiastic member on the front of the plat- 
form manifested his delight by opening and waving 
an umbrella. The historic eagle of the Eighth Wis- 
consin Infantry was present, and joined in the tumult 
of delight; and it was fully half an hour before the 
noise was brought to an end, and the convention 
again settled down to business. As the vote was 
announced, a curtain was let down in the rear of 
the stage, showing a painting of the White House 
with two pedestals in front. One of them with 
Grant's statue upon it was labeled: "Republican 
Nominee of the Chicago Convention. May 20, 1868." 
The other pedestal was vacant, and bore the label : 
"Democratic Nominee, New York Convention. July 
4, 1868." 

The Goddess of Liberty stood between the two 
pedestals, pointing a hand towards each of them, 
while above her was the motto: "MATCH HIM!" 

By some mistake, either of the telegraph or tlie 
printer, one of the principal New York papers printed 
the next morning the motto thus: "WATCH HIM!" 

This led to great wonderment on the part of all 
its readers, and afterwards, when the error was cor- 
rected, to their great amusement. 

A few days later a committee of the convention 



408 

waited on General Grant to notify him of his nom- 
ination. In response to its chairman, General Haw- 
ley, he replied with the longest speech he had ever 
made in his life. Here it is : — 

^^ Mr. President and Gentlemen of the National Union 
Conventio7i, — I will endeavor in a very short time to 
write you a letter accepting the trust you have imposed 
upon me. Expressing my gratitude for the confidence you 
have placed in me, I will now say but little orally ; 
and that is to thank you for the unanimity with which 
you have selected me as a candidate for the presiden- 
tial office. I can say, in addition, I looked on during 
the progress of the proceedings at Chicago with a great 
deal of interest, and am gratified with the harmony and 
unanimity which seem to have governed the delibera- 
tions of the convention. If chosen to fill the high 
office for which you have selected me, I will give to 
its duties the same energy, the same spirit, and the 
same will, that I have given to the performance of all 
duties which have devolved on me heretofore. Whether 
I shall be able to perform these duties to your entire 
satisfaction, time will determine. You have truly said, 
in the course of jomv address, that I shall have no 
policy of my own to force against the will of the 
people." 

His formal letter of acceptance was sent to the 
committee on the 29th of the same month. It is as 
follows : — 



LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE. 409 

"In formally accepting the nomination of the Na- 
tional Union Republican Convention of the 21st of May 
inst., it seems proper that some statement of views be- 
yond the mere acceptance of the nomination should be 
expressed. 

"The proceedings of the convention were marked with 
wisdom, moderation, and patriotism, and, I believe, ex- 
press the feelings of the great mass of those who sustained 
the country through its recent trials. I endorse the reso- 
lutions. 

"If elected to the office of President of the United 
States, it will be my endeavor to administer all the laws in 
good faith, with economy, and with the view of giving 
peace, quiet, and protection everywhere. In times like 
the present, it is impossible, or at least eminently im- 
proper, to lay down a policy to be adhered to right or 
wrong, through an administration of four years. New 
political issues, not foreseen, are constantly arising; the 
views of the public on old ones are constantly changing; 
and a purely administrative officer should always be left 
free to execute the will of the people. I have always 
respected that will, and always shall. 

" Peace and universal prosperity — its sequence — with 
the economy of administration, will lighten the burden of 
taxation, while it constantly reduces the National debt. 
Let us hg-ve peace." 

The Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour of New 
York, with Frank P. Blair of Missouri as vice-presi- 
dent. Seymour was not an ardent sympathizer with 



410 boys' life of general grant. 

the war, but had not made himself particularly ob- 
noxiouSk to those who supported it. Blair had fought 
bravely during the war on the Northern side, and at- 
tained the rank of major-general. He had been an 
emphatic friend of the Union cause ; and though he 
had modified his views somewhat after the war, it is 
probable that his vanity had more to do with his 
nomination than any views which he held regarding 
political policy. Schuyler Colfax, who was the can- 
didate for the vice-presidency with Grant, was a thor- 
oughly loyal Unionist, and had been a speaker of the 
House of Representatives, where he performed excel- 
lent services. 

Grant and Colfax were elected, receiving 214 elec- 
toral votes against 80 for Seymour and Blair. Grant 
was duly inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1869, and 
at the end of his term of four years, was again elected. 
Tradition and custom limit the holding of the presi- 
dential office by one man to two terms. No attempt 
was made to nominate Grant in 1876 ; but in 1880 
his friends made a strong effort to secure his nomina- 
tion for a third term. His name was presented to 
the convention, and for thirty-six ballots received a 
vote that was never lower than 302 nor higher than 
313. On most of the ballots his vote stood at 306; 
and a medal was afterwards struck for the faithful 
ones who adhered to him from the first to the last. 



GRAKT AS PRESIDENT. 411 

There is no doubt that he would have received 
the nomination, had it not been for the prevailing 
prejudice against a third term. Many of his warm 
admirers voted against him, and openly gave this pre- 
judice as a reason for doing so. After a long and 
excited meeting, the convention compromised on 
James A. Garfield, who received the nomination. 
From that time on. General Grant had no part in the 
politics of the day. 

During his two terms in the presidential office 
General Grant displayed the same earnestness, truth- 
fulness, honesty, and energy that had characterized 
him during his career as a soldier. In his inaugural 
address he declared that the Government bonds should 
be paid in gold, advocated the speedy return to specie 
payments, and made a goodly number of recommenda- 
tions concerning public affairs. On the subject of 
the national honor, he was very emphatic in saying 
that it should be understood everywhere "that no 
repudiator of a single farthing of our public debt 
will be trusted in public places; and it will go far 
towards strengthening the credit which ought to be 
the -best in the world; and will ultimately enable us 
to replace the debt with bonds bearing less interest 
than we now pay." 

He advocated the Fifteenth Amendment of the Con- 
stitution, which guaranteed the right of suffrage with- 



412 boys' life of general grant. 

out regard to race, color, or previous condition of 
servitude. In proclaiming its adoption, he said that 
he regarded it as a measure of grander importance 
than any other one act of the kind since the founda- 
tion of the government. 

General Grant favored the annexation of San Do- 
mingo to the United States, and was much disappointed 
at the failure of the annexation movement. He took 
strong ground in favor of civil service reform, and 
earnestly urged upon Congress the necessity of 
building up our merchant marine, and extending our 
foreign commerce. Perhaps the most important meas- 
ure of his administration was the negotiation with 
Great Britain of the Treaty of Washington, which led 
to the settlement of the so-called Alabama claims, and 
removed the cause of an irritation between the two 
countries which at one time threatened to lead to war. 

There was considerable trouble in the South at 
different times, owing to the reconstruction measures, 
and the treatment of the colored people. The Presi- 
dent was greatly abused for his action ; but what 
President has ever escaped censure ? During his 
administration, the national debt was reduced more 
than 1450,000,000, and the taxes more than ^300,000- 
000. The balance of trade was $130,000,000 in favor 
of this country, where it previously was $130,000,000 
against it. He left the country far more prosperous 



TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. 413 

at the end of his two terms than when lie was first 
seated in the presidential chair. Many troublesome 
questions had been settled, the Southern States had 
all been reconstructed, and the first trans-continental 
railway had been completed between the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans. 

Shortly after retiring from the presidency, on the 
4th of March, 1877, General Grant decided to visit the 
Old World, and see something of a part of the globe 
which he had never looked upon. He sailed from 
Philadelphia on the 17th of May, on the steamer In- 
diana, accompanied by his wife and one son. A large 
fleet of commercial and naval vessels accompanied 
him down the river, the shipping in the harbor was 
dressed in flags, and salutes were fired in his honor. 
He arrived at Liverpool May 28, and his reception 
was quite equal to his farewell when he left his native 
shores. Everywhere that he went in Great Britain he 
was cordially welcomed and magnificently received. 
The freedom of all cities that he visited was presented 
to him ; he was officially received by the Queen and 
the Prince of Wales ; banquets and receptions were 
accorded to him ; and the Avhole British nation seemed 
determined to make him feel thoroughly at home. 
Addresses of welcome were showered upon him, and 
he received the most enthusiastic greeting from the 
mass of the population. 



414 boys' life of general grant. 

On the Continent he received the same distinction 
from crowned heads that had been shown him in 
England, and also from the people of every rank and 
degree. Military review^s, banquets, and grand recep- 
tions followed each other in rapid succession. He bore 
himself at all times with characteristic modesty, and 
would have gladly escaped, had it been possible, from 
the distinguished courtesies that were showered upon 
him. 

On the U. S. man-of-war Vandalia, which liad been 
placed at his disposal, he made a cruise into the Med- 
iterranean, and visited Italy, the Holy Land, and 
Egypt. In January, 1879, he went to India, landing at 
Bombay, and afterwards visited all the principal cities 
of that country. His progress was like that of an 
emperor making a journey through his own domains, 
and has been admirably described by Hon. John Russell 
Young, who accompanied him, in a work entitled, 
'* Around the World with General Grant." 

From India he went to Burmah, and from Burmah 
to the Malay peninsula, Siam, and Cochin-China, arriv- 
ing at Hong Kong April 30. The King of Siam, 
to whom he was presented by Colonel Sickles, the 
consul-general, showed him the highest honors, and 
took great pains to make his stay an agreeable one. 
In China he received greater honors than had ever 
before been shown to any foreigner, and he was 



IN CHINA AND JAPAN. 415 

requested by Prince Kung to act as sole arbiti-ator 
in the settlement of a dispute between China and 
Japan concerning the Loo Choo Islands. 

From China he went to Japan, where he was re- 
ceived by a delegation of imperial officers, and be- 
came a special guest of the emperor. His course 
through Japan was a course of glory; and the enter- 
tainments that were made in his honor surpassed 
anything that had ever before been made in Japan. 
He sailed from Yokohama for San Francisco on the 
3d of September, and reached his destination on the 
20th. Here a grand ovation awaited him ; an im- 
mense contrast to the reception he received when 
he first visited the Pacific Coast as a lieutenant of 
the Fourth Infantry. Banquets and receptions met 
him all the way from the western to the eastern 
coast. 

In the following year General Grant visited Cuba 
and Mexico. In the latter country he was greeted 
with the greatest enthusiasm by all classes of the 
people, who regarded him as their stanchest friend 
in the days when they suffered from foreign inva- 
sion. Everywhere he went throughout the Mexican 
Republic, he received the highest official and personal 
courtesies. 

It has been suggested that General Grant has seen 
and been seen by more men than any other man 



416 boys' life of general grant. 

who ever lived; and if the reader will reflect for a 
moment he will see that this supposition is doubt- 
less correct. In his own country during the Civil 
War his eyes must have rested upon a great many 
thousands of soldiers, both Union and Confederate. 
Add to these the crowds that thronged the streets 
of every city which he visited, and on every road 
that he traveled during the later years of the war, 
the years that followed, and during his two terms 
of the presidency. Add to these the immense crowds 
that greeted him everywhere, and the soldiers in the 
grand reviews given in his honor in his triumphal 
journey of nearly thirty months through the coun- 
tries of Europe and Asia. Add to these, again, the 
great throng that greeted him on his return to the 
Pacific Coast, and the throngs that met him on his 
journey from that coast to the Atlantic. Unite all 
these myriads together, and it is safe to conclude 
that no man who ever lived before or since General 
Grant has seen so many people as had our great 
commander. 

After the failure of his friends to nominate him for 
the third term to the presidency. General Grant bought 
a house in New York, making his home there in 
winter, and spending his summers in Long Branch. 
He invested his savings in the banking-house of 
Grant & Ward, one of his sons being a partner in 



WRITING HIS MEMOIRS. 417 

the concern. For a time the house prospered im- 
mensely; but in May, 1884, the firm suddenly col- 
lapsed, and it was found out that two of the partners 
had been guilty of the most unblushing frauds, which 
left the general and liis family hopelessly bankrupt. 
He now turned to the use of his pen for the sup- 
port of his family. Hitherto he had refused many 
flattering offers ; but on manifesting a willingness to 
perform literary work, he was immediately besieged 
by publishers. 

The result of his negotiations was a contract 
to write his personal memoirs, to be published in 
two volumes. The contract was made in February, 
1885 ; and he immediately set about the performance 
of his task, which he completed in July of the same 
year, and" only four days before his death. The 
larger part of the work was written with his own 
hand while sitting propped up in bed or in a re- 
clining chair. The remaining portion was dictated 
to his secretaries, and he was greatly assisted by his 
sons and other friends in the collection and prepa- 
ration of materials. 

The sales of the book were enormous, reaching 
nearly four hundred thousand sets, and bringing to 
Mrs. Grant a royalty of not far from half a million 
dollars, the largest sum ever received by an author 
or his representatives for the sale of any single work. 



418 boys' life of general grant. 

In the summer of 1884, General Grant was puzzled 
to find himself suffering with a sore throat, witli- 
out having taken a preliminary cold which usually 
precedes an affection of that sort. He consulted his 
family physician, who called in a specialist; and the 
result of their consultation was the decision that the 
general was suffering from cancer of the tongue. 
The disease steadily progressed; and when the news 
of his affliction became public, the sympathies of the 
nation and the world Avere aroused. Congress passed 
a bill making him a general on the retired list, and 
thus restored him to his former rank in the army. 
Messages of the warmest sympathy came to him 
from all directions ; and they greatly cheered him, 
although he knew that his disease was necessarily 
fatal. It was for tliis reason that he labored as in- 
dustriously over his memoirs as he did, in order 
that he might make provision for his family. In all 
his life there was nothing that better illustrated his 
bulldog determination and persistence than his final 
sti'Uggle against disease, and his performance of lit- 
erary work under circumstances that would have 
appalled and disheartened any other literary worker 
who ever lived. 

General Grant lingered and labored in his city resi- 
dence until June 16. 1885, when he was removed to 
the Drexel Cottage on Mount Magregor, near Sara- 



DEATH. 419 

toga, N.Y. Here he spent the last five weeks of 
his life, wliich ended at eight o'clock in the morning 
of Thursday, July 23, in the presence of his family 
and a few intimate friends. 

The remains were taken to New York, guarded by 
a detachment of soldiers from the United States 
Army, and an escort of veterans of the Grand Army 
of the Republic. On Saturday, Aug. 8, a public 
funeral took place, which was the most magnificent 
affair of the kind ever given in this country. In 
the military escort there were soldiers from Vir- 
ginia and other States that joined in the Rebellion ; 
and distinguished ofKicers of the Confederate army 
rode in carriages side by side with officers equally 
distinguished in the army of the United States. The 
body was deposited in a temporary tomb in River- 
side Park, on a high point overlooking the Hudson 
River ; and a magnificent monument has been erected 
over the remains. 

The whole country mourned the loss that had fallen 
upon it ; and thousands of sympathetic messages came 
to the bereaved family, not only from all parts of 
America, but from lands beyond tlie seas. Well may 
it be said that the death of General Grant caused 
universal sorrow in all quarters of the globe. 

So ends the story of the life of General Grant; 
a life which teaches a lesson of patience and honesty, 



420 boys' life of general grant. 

of character and purpose ; loyalty to country and 
friends ; perseverance always in the right ; firm deter- 
mination to overcome all obstacles ; and unflinching 
fidelity until the desired end is attained. It was 
a life which began with disappointments, but was 
magnificently triumphant in its later part. And of 
the names in American history that will be carried 
down to future generations, none will be more con- 
spicuous, or shine with greater luster, than that of 
ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

THE END. 



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